


Gundam Unicorn: Narrative of Truth

by MWSeraph



Series: Gundam UC: Laplace Revolution [1]
Category: Gundam & Related Fandoms, Gundam Unicorn, Universal Century Gundam, 機動戦士ガンダムＮＴ | Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative (2018)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:41:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 63,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24398920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MWSeraph/pseuds/MWSeraph
Summary: The truth is out. But there are secrets still yet to be uncovered. The Lion, Princess, and Unicorn must now strive to unveil the secrets that have been kept. With the return of the Phenex, there is much to be relearned about the past. And what's this about a Dragon? Is this Dragon friend... or foe?
Relationships: Banagher Links/Mineva Zabi, Jona Basta & Rita Bernal & Michele Luio
Series: Gundam UC: Laplace Revolution [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1761832
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gundam Unicorn, Gundam Narrative, or the Gundam franchise.****

* * *

**Industrial Six, Side 7**

**September, UC 0097**

The emptiness of space.

Vast, imposing, and full of possibilities.

That's what many people thought when they laid eyes upon the blackness littered with stars.

And many people sought to make their mark out there.

However, not everyone was in it for glory. Some were in it for profits, such as the company assigned to transport some top secret cargo to Industrial Six.

"This is the Rainbow Runner of Munei Heavy Shuttles," the transport's captain radioed, "requesting permission to enter Side 7 with private mobile suit escorts."

"We read you loud and clear, Rainbow Runner. Permission to dock is granted," the controller replied. "Proceed to designated docking bay."

Off to the side, in one of the refurbished GM Quels, a young man in his late teens blew a strand of sandy brown hair out of his green eyes. "About time we got this mission done," he remarked, "I'm pooped from the travel."

"Yeah? Think you're the only one, Joseph?" another pilot joked.

"Hey! For the last time, I prefer to be called Seph!" the pilot, Joseph 'Seph' Matthews complained playfully.

"Seph sounds rather girly if you ask me," the same pilot retorted in a friendly manner, "your real name has the real meat!"

The brown-haired pilot rolled his eyes. "Y'know, I've been curious as to what the cargo is that the shuttle's carrying," he remarked.

"Yeah," a third pilot remarked, "the details the Ming Institute issued to us are rather scant for a security mission. I'm surprised that DarkSpace just accepted the job like that."

"Honestly, I've been curious ever since the mission began," Seph stated. He rolled his shoulders and gripped the controls of his unit. "What's so important about it, anyway?" The three PMC GM Quel pilots continued to chat meaninglessly as they and the ship were guided into Industrial Six's docking bay. The docking port was practically full, but thankfully there was a space left for the ship to dock. Seph guided his machine closer to the Rainbow Runner and adjusted his GM Quel for touching down. "Looks like our job is over," he thought. Suddenly, he got a notification from his DarkSpace employers. The young man brought it up on his machine's monitor, and his eyes widened in surprise at the contents. "The heck?"

"What is it," one of the wingmen asked.

"I... I've been asked to test pilot the new unit?" Seph blinked in confusion. "But why me?" He checked the message again, but it was still the same.

"To: Pilot Joseph Matthews  
From: Dr. Lombardi, R&D Division

Message: Hello. I am happy to see that you have brought the cargo into the colony intact. But the job is only half complete. As it stands, we still need to test it out and make sure the new piloting system works. If all goes as planned, we will consider showing this new system's potential to the EFSF top brass. Therefore I am requesting that you are to be the test pilot for the new machine. You will be paid extra as compensation for this task."

Now Seph was completely mind-blown; it was very unusual for security personnel to be drafted for additional duties outside of their purview. It was even more unusual that his PMC was even forwarding this to him. Then again, given the operating expenses of being a private mobile suit pilot, it did not sound half-bad at all. He decided to accept it. He typed back his response, and within minutes he got a reply.

"Excellent. We expect to see you within the hangar in three hours." Little did he know, that his response would change his life forever.

* * *

**T** **wo days later...**

Seph walked down the corridors of the Ming Institute facility located within Industrial Six. As instructed, he was to report to Dr. Lombardi in the heart of the facility. He was in actuality a bit nervous, as well as excited. Never before had he been asked to pilot a new prototype machine. His eyes flicked down the corridor until he spotted the door he was looking for.

"The flight test center..." Seph leaned into the security terminal next to the door. Putting his hand on the biometric scanner, Seph was also given a retinal scan. With his handprint and eyes checking out, the door opened. Inside he could see the huge shape of a new mobile suit, almost completely hidden by shadows. His eyes roved up the entirety of the machine and he shuddered a bit. This thing looked imposing. "What is that?" Seph could not make it out, but there was a strange tingling feeling about it.

"That, Joseph, is the machine you're going to test pilot," a voice said. The young man yelped and spun to face the speaker. The man behind him was none other than Dr. Noel Lombardi, the chief of Ming Institute's R&D Division. He stood at five foot ten, and had messy blonde hair that contrasted with his brown eyes. He wore a white lab coat over a brown shirt and blue jeans, and his ID badge hung around his neck. He held in one hand a data tablet and he smiled. "I see you arrived just in time."

"Yeah. So, what kind of new piloting system are we testing?" Seph asked.

"Remote piloting," Lombardi said as he unveiled some specs.

Seph eyed the specs curiously. "Remote piloting? That's new," he remarked.

"We call it the Neuro-Link System," Lombardi explained, "and for good reason." He tapped the specs and brought up a blueprint. "The Neuro-Link System replaced the standard cockpit in a mobile suit with this special computer here. It receives the pilot's brainwaves as they are amplified through a helmet designed for the task. The computer then transmits the pilot's thoughts to the systems necessary for movement, etc. It's meant to limit the cost of human lives in battle, which could save many pilots from suffering injuries or worse."

The system did seem like a good idea, Seph mused. "And you want me to see if it works, right?"

"Exactly," Lombardi remarked with a grin.

"Sounds like you're making pilots obsolete," Seph joked.

"Not entirely," the head of R&D joked back. "This is only a test system. If it works, it could be used in the future, but right now, we're still trying to work out the bugs."

"Well," Seph cheered, "then I'm the man for the job! Watch me smoothly guide that baby with my gentle hands."

Lombardi chuckled at Seph's enthusiasm. "All right. If you'll follow me..." He turned and guided Seph to a pod of some sort set up next to the shadowed mobile suit. "But first, let's show you the suit you'll be piloting." He nodded at a technician and she nodded back. She tapped a switch and the lights flared on, exposing the mobile suit in its entirety. Seph's eyes widened. It was a dark purple mobile suit, in a shade that bordered on black. "That's... the Unicorn? I thought they were all banned and dismantled!" The young PMC pilot could still remember the alarm and panic over the news regarding the 'Axis Shock' that the notorious Unit One caused during the Laplace Declaration a year and a half ago.

"Relax. That machine may look like it, but it is not the same suit," Lombardi explained. "It's meant to deceive enemies and throw them off balance."

"Wait... so a fake Unicorn," Seph raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Lombardi nodded. "Now, come on. Let's get you suited up."

* * *

**The next day...**

Seph was dressed up in a unique pilot suit. It was the same type that was used by most pilots of the previous Unicorn Gundams, but he was not actually going to sortie in the mobile suit physically. Instead, he was to get into the pod and hook up mentally to the new machine. "Hmm... certainly kinda miss getting into an actual cockpit," Seph thought aloud.

Lombardi chuckled a bit. "Relax. Just think of it as such," he remarked as he gestured for the young man to step in. Seph did so, and much to his surprise, the pod's seating layout did resemble the real deal, but there were no controls. Seph sat down in the seat as the engineer backed up. As the cockpit closed up, the systems came online, including avionics and monitor. As the view cleared up, Seph was treated to a view of the MS hanger that the Dracon was in, as though he were actually in the mobile suit. It was then that the radio sparked to life. "Mr. Matthews," a female voice called.

The comm screen came up on the display images on his helmet visor. The woman speaking was in her early twenties, with chocolate brown hair and sky blue eyes. Her skin was tanned and she wore a nice light purple tank top that showed off her toned shoulders and arms. "I'm going to be the one who gives you your instructions," she said. "I'm Tina Hendricks."

"Nice to meet you!" Seph chirped.

Tina gave a cute and light laugh. "Alright, flyboy," she said, "let's get to work. Let's go through your standard preflight checks, as well as your wireless connection to the Dracon. Can't have you having hiccups in the system."

"Okay," Seph remarked. "So... what first?" He looked around, and much to his surprise, he could... he didn't know how to explain it, but it felt like he was moving his head, and yet not. He could vaguely feel something, but he could only describe it as a slight sensation of something else moving in his neck. The head of the new mobile suit was also turning, the exact same movement he was thinking about. 'Weird,' Seph thought as he scratched his head, not realizing what his MS was also doing.

"Be careful," Tina cautioned. "Every action you think of your machine also does."

"Wait, what?" Seph stopped scratching, and turned to see the Dracon's hand emulating the same pose he was doing with his hand. "Um... did the Dracon just scratch it's own head?"

"It did," Tina remarked. "So be careful."

"Oops," Seph now felt sheepish. "Anything else," he said, trying to move on.

"First up is the flight check. From the way your machine moved, I can safely say the wireless link is working properly," Tina said. "So, move the Dracon to the hangar bay exit."

At those words, an alarm began to ring and the personnel that were present began to scurry away or donned their helmets.

"Here goes." Seph could see that there were no pedals in the cockpit. Instead, he began to think of walking, as though he were doing it himself. True enough, the mobile suit actually began to move. After a few experimental steps, he began to move more smoothly at a walking pace.

"Okay. So far things look good," Tina noted.

"This feels so weird," Seph remarked.

"Think of the Dracon as more of your own body," Tina suggested, "in a sense now, you are the mobile suit, and the mobile suit is you."

"Okay." Seph focused more on the machine, and sure enough, he could start to sense its movements more. "Wow..." He slowly looked at the hands of the machine and flexed them.

"That's it," Tina encouraged, "you're getting the hang of it. Now, let's get you ready to launch for your test flight."

"Okay." Seph slowly moved the Dracon towards the doors, flexing the limbs as he walked. "Uh... Just one question. Why does this thing have wings?"

Tina then gave a serious expression. "We'll cross that bridge with more test flights," she said, "remember, there are many details that are top secret, and we can only reveal them to you in due time."

"Okay." Seph nodded. He stopped near the edge of the hangar bay and crouched, pushing off the floor with the Dracon's powerful hydraulics.

"Course is clear, Dracon," the control room announced, "you are clear for take off."

"All right." Seph straightened the machine and focused on the flight pack. "Joseph 'Seph' Matthews, Dracon. Launching!"

The flight pack kicked on, and Seph felt the faintest sensations on his real back, like the flight pack was actually pushing him, but in reality he wasn't even moving.

"Okay... not launching," Seph sighed, "what am I missing?"

Tina rolled her eyes. "You have to focus on it. Let the action take hold. Let it happen, and don't force it." She checked the specs. "At least according to the theory behind the system, anyway."

Seph took a breath. He refocused his thoughts to that of a bird, soaring through an endless sky.

The flight pack responded. He felt the ground beneath his machine's feet leave, and he could sense a sort of weightlessness in his stomach. "Thrust increasing," Tina indicated, "you're getting the hang of it, Mr. Matthews."

"Okay. Let's see..." Seph thought about increasing speed, and he suddenly felt the frame he was controlling jerk as the thrust output reached 75 percent. "Whoa!"

The Dracon shot forward out of the test bay. Seph felt mobile suits accelerate before, but now it was as though he were feeling the full inertial forces on the Dracon itself! "Whoa! This is insane!" Seph remarked as he tried to adjust the Dracon to a stable flight path. "I've never even flown a mobile suit like this before!"

"Calm down," Tina coaxed, "think of it as you doing the flying, and less of the mobile suit."

"Okay... Okay. I got this." Seph slowly eased back on the controls, and he found that it was a lot easier to control the suit now that the thrusters weren't going at three quarters full power. "I... I actually think I could get used to this."

Tina smiled at the test pilot for a bit. Moving onto her checklist, she began, "alright, let's start with the basics. I need you to fly along the route mapped out on your HUD as part of our basic flight test. We'll also be giving you prompts for certain maneuvers along the way, so pay attention."

Seph nodded, aware of the Dracon's head doing the same. "Sure." He adjusted his flight course and started to follow the route he saw blinking on the HUD. It was a straight shot through a debris field, but thankfully the route avoided the worst of it.

Tina was nodding and humming in approval. "Looking good, but stay sharp," she reminded.

"Will do," Seph remarked. He continued to follow the path, every so often flexing the Dracon's limbs to get used to them. It was then that a prompt and proximity alert blared in the cockpit. "Mr. Matthews, evade!" The pilot yelped as he twisted the Dracon's frame. The dark colored machine barely avoided a chunk of debris as he weaved. However, the maneuver prompts kept coming as Seph was having to roll and speed around the debris that had drifted around Side 7. The dark colored machine was almost impossible to see against the blackness of space. The only tell tale sign was the glow of the thrust exhaust as he peeled around another chunk of debris before emerging back into the emptiness. "Man! That was intense!" Seph exclaimed.

"Nice, Mr. Matthews," Tina said with a smile, "you've completed the first phase of the test."

The pilot shifted as the Dracon continued on its course. "What next?" Seph asked, a grin crossing his face.

"Next up is the agility test," Tina read off the check list. "Your objective is to avoid the drones as they fire on you. Three hits and you are then considered 'dead'. Is that clear?"

"Roger that," the Dracon pilot affirmed. Soon enough, four GM Quels appeared on his radar.

"Good luck." Tina cut the line and Seph flexed the Dracon's hands.

"Okay. Let's do this!" he muttered. As the GM Quels came into range, Seph received the radar warning tone from an enemy lock on. "Yipes!" Seph braked by cutting the thrust and then he whipped the Dracon's frame around, barely dodging a laser beam as it sped past the right leg. The other GM Quels moved to flank Seph, aiming their training rifle lasers as they attempted to catch him. The pilot juked and dodged, trying to master the Dracon's agility. "Okay! Now how am I supposed to take them down?" he wondered.

"Your objective is just to evade these guys for two minutes," Tina berated, "this is an evasion test, Mr. Matthews!"

"Oh, right! Sorry!" Seph remarked. He checked the countdown on his suit's HUD. "Okay. Let's see..." He twirled around and ducked behind some debris, using the Dracon's dark color to his advantage.

"Wow, this thing really flies," Seph marveled as he darted around the airspace. The GM Quels had a difficult time keeping pace with their test target. The dark colored mobile suit flitted past one, and he wagged the Dracon's hands as if taunting. "Nyah!" he jokingly teased. Then he flew on, laughing a bit. "This color scheme is amazing!"

Tina facepalmed at this. "Mr. Matthews! Take this test more seriously!"

"Sorry!" Seph apologized. He spotted the Quels returning and he darted behind some debris. The dark colored armor was a real benefit, as in the blackness of space, one could barely see him. "Like vanishing into shadows," Seph beamed.

"Okay. And time... done!" Tina alerted him. "You completed the evasion test."

"Great!" the pilot chirped. Seph looked to Tina on the HUD of the Dracon. "Oh, and by the way, I'd prefer it if you called me Seph," he remarked. "Mr. Matthews makes me sound too old. I'm only nineteen." He gave an embarrassed grin at that last part.

"Then you can call me, Tina, if it's all the same," the assistant spoke with a smile.

Dr. Lombardi pretended to be stern in his expression, but given how screwed up the world of the Universal Century was, this small instance of young adult flirting was one of the few natural good things to enjoy.

Seph winked. "You got it, Tina," he joked. "So, what's next on the list?"

Of course, things were about to take a turn for the worse, and young Seph had no idea of what he was about to get roped into... or the situation he'd find himself in.

* * *

**Inside Industrial Six...**

Unbeknownst to everyone in the Ming Institute, there were two operatives hacking into the facility in order to access the program. One operated the hacking device, while the other was on another computer. "This had better work," the first figure muttered. "We cannot have the fool exposing us."

"It will do the job," the second figure assured his comrade. "That little device has given us an edge. It will also be what pushes them to acknowledge the folly of their foolish actions to resist."

"Either that or they will try to figure out what did it," the first figure noted.

"Relax. It will work as planned. And then they will see how foolish it is. The Grand Design will come about. There is no way around it." The second figure sneered as he typed in the command. "For our noble cause... Let this new beast fail before it finds its wings!"

"And who better to help us foil that old era fossil than that self-righteous fool from Londo Bell?" The other agent was eyeing a video feed of the famed Ra Cailum. It and its even more famous Captain Bright had a particularly annoying tendency to stick their noses into others' affairs, from Char's Rebellion to the Laplace Incident. It would be sweet irony to use Bright to bury the past and the truth for good.

"Yes. This way, no one will be able to resist us!" the second figure grinned. "Now, is the device inserted?"

"Yes. It is. It's downloading the virus now." The first agent examined the feed on the device, watching as the downloading bar crept up. On the left side of the screen displayed the machine currently in use, along with the pilot's vital signs.

"I think it's about time to call in the favor..." The second agent sent out an alert message over Federation channels. It would explain that illegal human experiments were going on at Side 7, and that all EFSF units in the vicinity should immediately respond as a test subject had stolen an experimental mobile suit and was running amok.

The alert was sent out, and within moments, chatter began to fill the laser waves as they responded.

And within the system, the virus went to work.

"Hasta la vista... Dr. Ming," the first agent grinned as everything fell into place.

* * *

**Testing Site**

The first sign something was wrong came with a slight hesitation with the Dracon's movements. "Huh?" Seph looked down at the hands of the machine, trying to flex them. They responded, but they seemed to be... delayed.

"The heck is going on?" he asked.

Back in the test center outside of Seph's pod, warning alarms were blaring as several readings on the Dracon dipped into the red. Dr. Lombardi stood up from his seat as the staff tried to get things under control. "What's going on," he demanded, "Tina!?

"It's not good, sir!" Tina cried. "A virus has entered the system! It's causing the Neuro-Link to suffer disruptions!" Her hands flew over the keyboard as she spoke. "I don't know what happened, sir!"

"Pulse reversal detected," on of the operators reported, "the Neuro-Link signals are going to overload the system!"

"Seph!" Tina got on the comm line. "There's been an issue with the system! It's going to overload due to a computer virus!"

"What? Hang on..." On the screen, Tina watched as the Dracon sluggishly turned back towards the colony. "Just let me.."

"No! Eject now!" Tina pleaded.

But by then it was too late.

"He's crazy," another assistant said, "he's fighting the backflow!"

"The system's going critical!"

"Shut it down! He's going to get killed!"

"SEPH!" Tina screamed, getting to her feet.

* * *

**Space**

Seph juked and jolted the Dracon back to the colony, only for the system to reach critical.

The next thing he knew, a searing pain lanced through his head and he screamed, his hands flying to his head, as the Dracon did the same thing. From an outsider's perspective, it seemed as if the Dracon were in pain, arching its back as it clutched at its helm. Its optics flashed, and then its arms and legs spread as if being shocked. But to Seph, the pain was very real.

It felt like his mind was being split in two, or rather as if he were being torn free from something. He felt nothing, not even his own breathing, as he drifted loosely, feeling his mind starting to grow hazy. Panic suddenly flooded his awareness as he realized he could be dying. He tried to cling to his human body, but then he was bodiless, and in a desperate act, latched onto the closest object he could find. He didn't know what it was, but it was familiar and at the same time foreign. He felt himself becoming more cognizant of his surroundings, and he felt something else, too. He didn't know what else he was feeling, but it became a mere byproduct as exhaustion and the pain took its toll.

The last thing he recalled before blacking out was Tina's panicked voice echoing in his head...

* * *

**Space Between Side 7 and Luna II**

Londo Bell Lt. Commander Chase Lee raced around in his custom blue Delta Plus as two trainees in ReZELs attempted to lock on to him. "C'mon! That the best you kids got?" he asked over the comm. Chase maneuvered hard in his Wave Rider mode, breaking their lock-on signals for the third time since the exercise started. The Ra Cailum had been ordered to take part in training exercises to increase the proficiency of the EFSF pilots in MS combat. While the Federation had not collapsed as was feared from the Laplace Declaration, relations between the nations of Earth, space, and the Moon were still very tense. Still fearing the possibility of Zeon uprisings, the General Staff HQ had relegated several Londo Bell units to focus on improving the Federation's combat readiness.

Chase maneuvered hard in his Wave Rider mode, breaking their lock-on signals for the third time since the exercise started. The Ra Cailum had been ordered to take part in training exercises to increase the proficiency of the EFSF pilots in MS combat. While the Federation had not collapsed as was feared from the Laplace Declaration, relations between the nations of Earth, space, and the Moon were still very tense. Still fearing the possibility of Zeon uprisings, the General Staff HQ had relegated several Londo Bell units to focus on improving the Federation's combat readiness.

His alert beeped as he saw them coming back around. His blue eyes flicked over the console as he scanned them. "Okay, kiddies... show me what you got!" he remarked. The trainees came at him, their machines splitting up for a flanking attack. "Good, good, come at me," Chase goaded as he executed at hard spin left. The two trainees aimed their guns and fired their training lasers. One barely missed his machine, and Chase grinned.

Braking hard, the Wave Rider ace quickly transformed the Delta Plus into MS form, causing the two ReZELs to rapidly overshoot. "Not bad, but not good enough!" Chase shouted. He aimed his training laser rifle and snapped off two shots. They were perfect hits on both ReZELs. "Bingo, both of you are dead," Chase remarked, "you're out."

"Aw, c'mon! I thought we had him on the ropes!" one of the trainees replied as they both moved back to the sidelines.

"Just be thankful that it's training and not the real thing. You still live to learn something new," Chase reminded bluntly as he took a sip of water from his bottle.

The two trainees groaned, but acknowledged what he was saying.

As the exercise concluded, Chase began to think to himself about the state of affairs across the Earth Sphere. Even with the Laplace Declaration by Mineva Lao Zabi, neither the Federation nor the Zeon remnants were willing to come to the table. If anything, the Federation doubled down on its control over the Earth Sphere and increased the size and presence of its military aggressively. The Zeon remnants and Spacenoid independence movement likewise did not back down, and were even more aggressive in their dissent against the Federation. This increased polarization across the spectrum increased the political and social tensions among the territories of Earth and space, and neutral entities like Side 6 were having a much harder time not taking sides. In the midst of this lack of change in the status quo, Mineva vanished along with her closest allies after an agreement with the Federation to seal away the Unicorn Gundams and all psychoframe technology. The whole mess was just a tinder box waiting to explode, he thought grimly.

'Nothing has changed...' Chase lamented to himself, 'in a way... it's mercy that Amuro is not here to see where we're going...' He closed his eyes and sighed.

But then...

His comm began to beep. He changed his radio frequency to match the incoming call. Soon enough, he was greeted with the visage of the Ra Cailum's famed One Year War captain, Noa Bright. "Captain Bright, sir," Chase greeted.

"I see the exercise is complete. How did the trainees fare?" Bright inquired.

Chase just shook his head. "They're making progress," Chase said, "but the candidate pool is becoming less and less promising. Morale is low, and it feels like that fewer and fewer pilots are joining because they actually want to fly."

"That may be. But who knows?" Bright remarked. "However, there is another matter that has come up."

Chase then closed his helmet visor. "What's going on?"

"There's an emergency alert being sent out." Bright reached over and tapped something on his command seat's arm rest before the information was relayed to Chase.

The young Delta Plus commander opened the window and read over the message. As he did, his face took on a frowning, troubled expression. 'An illegal research project involving a stolen mobile suit,' he thought with exasperation, 'as if we didn't have enough of this jazz...'

"Captain Bright," Chase looked back, "you know what this means."

"Crux, return to the ship for rearmament and your next mission briefing," Bright ordered, "the Ra Cailum will be going on combat alert soon."

"Roger that, sir," Chase acknowledged, "but what about the noobies?"

"Send them back to base," Bright said. "They've done a good job, but they're not ready for this kind of work."

"Aw, c'mon! Why do we have to go back to base?!" one of them complained.

"Yeah! We can hold our own just as well!" the other shot back.

"Not with your flying today," Chase shot back. "The rest of you are to return to Luna II for debriefing," he ordered, "that's a direct order. This is now Londo Bell jurisdiction."

"Yes, sir..." both rookies muttered as they turned and flew back to their designated carrier. Chase watched them go before turning back to Bright.

"This is Crux, returning to the carrier." The Delta Plus flew back to the ship. As he flew though, Chase couldn't help but wonder what kind of experimental suit was on the loose at this point. 'The more things change, the more they stay the same..." the Londo Bell commander grimaced. He glanced back at the carrier ahead of him, not knowing just how much his life was going to change.

* * *

**Magallanica, Side 3, Republic of Zeon**

Banagher glanced at the form of the mobile suit he had once piloted, now deemed a forbidden technology, with a forlorn expression on his face.

The Unicorn Gundam had been stripped of much of its armament and sealed up with restraining tape and bolts to prevent its movement. It's true that Mineva made an agreement with the Federation government to seal away the Unicorn and the Banshee from the world's prying eyes, but she had stopped short of actually dismantling them. Nevertheless, Mineva and Captain Otto agreed that there was too much unknown about the psychoframe's true origins and capabilities, and that they might have breached a realm of the divine that no mortal should have control over.

Banagher thought to himself, 'did I really go too far?' Nothing had really changed, other than an increase in public fear and suspicion of Newtypes. While Mineva delivered her speech exposing years of the Federation's coverup of Laplace's Box and their abuse of power stemming from it, the powers to be were quick to shift public scrutiny from the scandal to the raw power of time manipulation and psychic manifestation that the Unicorn displayed through its psychoframe. Naturally, many became afraid of this newfound power, and thus the public in Earth and space allowed the Federation to maintain the status quo, out of a shared fear that the psychoframe had become too much to handle. This necessitated him and Mineva having to move Magallanica and the Nahel Argama to the Republic of Zeon to avoid the Federation forces sent to capture them. Now they could only work from the shadows to keep the Federation and Zeon from engaging in further hostilities with one another, and to seal away the psychoframe technology so that neither side would be able to exploit it.

"What are we supposed to do now, Unicorn?" Banagher asked his mobile suit.

The Unicorn was supposed to be a symbol of hope and a blessed future. Now it invoked fear and raw power that those in both the EFSF and Zeon wanted either destroyed or controlled. Thanks to the Federation media blitz, both sides had more justification for their hostility and entrenchment. As the Federation central government solidified its power and stripped more powers and sovereignty from its member states, Zeon likewise exploited the fallout from the Laplace Incident, using the Unicorn as evidence of the Federation's destructive intent, and Laplace's Box as justification for its radical brand of Spacenoid sovereignty, which advocated for even more war between Earth and space. To Banagher, this seemed wrong. Very wrong.

"Father... Grandfather..." Banagher shook his head, "where did we go wrong?" There had to be an answer. An answer to the question.

The sound of footsteps behind him caused him to turn, coming face to face with the woman whom he had made the difficult decision with.

"Banagher..." Mineva Lao Zabi said his name.

Banagher had a solemn look on his face. "Where did we go wrong?" he asked softly.

"We did not go wrong on any aspect," the princess admitted. "It was something else that interfered. Unfortunately, I don't know what did..."

Banagher and Mineva just stared at each other, unable to say anything else. However, after a minute of silence, Banagher's lips quivered as he tried to hold it in.

She stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry, Banagher..."

Banagher finally let it out, hugging Mineva in return and crying. He tears fell onto Mineva's orange hair. Mineva felt tears coming to her own face and she buried her face in Banagher's neck, weeping quietly in time with him.

The both of them felt that they had failed in some manner. Now, because of that, the nations of Earth and space were going to pay the price going into the next century. If the Republic of Zeon folded, the Federation would undoubtedly move to strip the other colonies and nations of their autonomy in centralizing power. Unfortunately, the leaders of Zeon themselves had their own plans, having manipulated and created the Sleeves from behind the scenes. If Foreign Minister Monaghan Bakharov had his way and became the Prime Minister, no doubt that he would exploit Laplace's Box to justify his militaristic version of Spacenoid independence, establishing the Side Co-Prosperity Sphere and sanctioning the nations of Earth to try and starve them out. Needless to say, those nations would never overlook such actions, and the Federation would feed off of the resentment to justify its own militarism and power. In the end, it seemed that Full Frontal had won. From across the hallway, the couple were watched by a certain blond pilot, wearing the uniform of his former service that now sought to prosecute him.

Riddhe ran a hand through his hair, unable to believe how much things had changed. At first it seemed like it was for the better, but now... now he didn't know what to think.

"What did we miss?" Riddhe felt something was missing, but he did not know anymore. After the Laplace Incident, any illusions he held about the Earth Federation's righteousness was shattered. All they were concerned about was to double down and dominate the Earth Sphere, completely doing away with any semblance of morality or democratic ideals. That, and with the populace of space being divided on the issues of Laplace's Box and the Unicorn Gundam, it seemed that both the Federation and select radicals inside Zeon would get what they wanted, one way or the other. Now Riddhe and the rest of the Nahel Argama were on the run, designated as renegades to be hunted down with Banagher, Mineva, and their sympathetic Zeon followers. While the Republic of Zeon agreed to shelter them, Riddhe knew that they had their own agendas, and if the Federation did not dissolve them first, it was only a matter of time before Bakharov would find a way to dispose of them as obstacles to his plans.

While the Unicorn and Banshee were still intact, there was a fear of their powers going out of control, and no one wanted to find out what would happen to either of them or their pilots if their powers increased. All in all, it left the Mineva Faction in a vulnerable position... and it really ate at Riddhe.

None of them had any idea just how much things were going to change though...

_**Chapter 1 End** _


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own Gundam Unicorn, Gundam Narrative, or the Gundam franchise.**

* * *

**Industrial Six, Side 7**

**September, UC 0097**

_Booting..._

_Systems operational_   
_Weapons systems: online_   
_Servos: online_   
_Thrusters: online_   
_Communications: online_   
_Optical systems: online_   
_Audial systems: online_   
_Vocalization systems: online_   
_Olfactory systems: online_   
_Radar: online_   
_Psychoframe: offline - activation pending_   
_Newtype-Destroyer System: offline - activation pending_   
_Minovsky Reactor: Online_   
_Memory files: corrupted_   
_Beginning recovery..._   
_Recovery 15%... 20%... 50%..._   
_Error: Files corrupted. Cannot complete recovery. Booting restored files..._   
_Files booted_   
_Beginning startup sequence..._   
_Sequence complete..._

'Ugh... My head... What... what happened?'

That was the first thing that came to Seph's mind as he slowly came to. His head was tingling and aching as he tried to get his bearings. As his vision came back to him, he found himself staring out into space. It seemed that he was still connected to the Dracon. 'Huh. Least something good's happening,' he thought. As he went to rub his head, instead of his helmet, he felt something else. He paused. 'W-What...?' He rubbed his head, trying to figure out what was wrong. Something just felt off. Seph was wearing a helmet, but it felt as though he were touching his own head. However, instead of hair, he was feeling metal.

Slowly, worry began to fill his gut.

Seph removed his hand from his head, bringing it, and the other one, up to face level.

And every single swear word he knew exploded in his head as his hands started to shake as he flexed them.

'I... I'm... the Dracon itself...' The gravity of the situation and the memories began to flood his mind's eye. 'That's right... There was the backflow... and then that pain... And now...' He started to shake more, slowly curling his new mechanical hands into fists. It was then that he let out a scream of horror. Little did he know was that it was on all channels.

He slowly curled up, trying to keep it together, but the mere sensations flooding his new frame only made him freak out more. His new Minovsky reactor began to whir louder in his new audio receptors and he clamped his hands over them.

'What's happening to me!?' However, Seph didn't have long to figure it out before a lock-on alert blared.

He looked up, trying to figure out where it was coming from. 'W...What...?'

His HUD registered 4 signatures. As the system scanned them, they were identified as RGM-89D Jegan Type Ds of the EFSF. The radar alerted Seph to the fact that their FCS was active and targeting him.

'Oh... crud...!' he thought in a panic. 'I'm gonna be shot!'

He twisted his new frame around, trying to figure out how to move. 'C'mon... c'mon!'

The Jegans continued to fire as they approached, their aim becoming more precise. Seph could actually feel the heat from the beam shots. 'Crap!' Seph thought. He finally managed to right himself, but now he was stuck. He couldn't go anywhere, or do anything, for that matter. He didn't want to die like this, trapped in this frame. He wanted to live!

As if heeding his plea, something on his back flashed and then he found himself being propelled through space, an unheard yelp resonating in his head.

Seph stumbled through space like a wild puppet as the Federation mobile suits attempted to shoot him down.

Somehow he managed to straighten out his flight path, only to glance over his shoulder as he did so. He was surprised - and horrified - to see the flight pack on his back going. Unlike before however, this time he could actually sense and feel the heat from the flames as they shot out the thrusters.

"This is crazy!" Seph said as he continued to try and maneuver away from the Jegans.

He redirected his gaze to the front and drifted to the left, only to panic and right himself. He hadn't even noticed his voice now held a metallic edge to it.

"I've got to reach Industrial Six," Seph muttered to himself as he flew hard and fast.

"Damn... this pilot's good," one of the Jegan pilots grunted.

Seph's thrusters whined in his audios as he pushed his new thruster pack to the limit. Soon enough, the Dracon started to pull away from the Federation MS.

"We'll never catch up at this rate..." the lead pilot relented. Suddenly, he got a notice from Federation HQ: Londo Bell was on its way. The other forces were to stand down while the _Ra Cailum_ and its forces made contact.

Seph finally took a cautious peek over his left shoulder, surprised to see the other mobile suits falling back. He wasn't about to take any chances though and veered towards a destroyed carrier left over from the war. As he positioned himself to float in place, he began to catch his breath, even though he was an MS and not a human now. Seph managed to plaster himself against the interior of the ship, his new armor's dark color proving to be an advantage as he tried to calm himself down. This whole situation was enough to cause him to shudder again, and he grasped his arms, rubbing them slightly.

His new reactor was now whirring softly beneath his chest armor, and he shivered at the sensation. "Man... This is so weird!" he murmured. However, his radar alert went off again. It looked to be more enemy reinforcements.

"Crap...!" Seph shrunk back from the hole he had hidden by, slipping into the shadows of the carrier. "How am I gonna get out of this one?"

* * *

"This is Crux of Londo Bell's Ra Cailum," Chase Lee stated his designation, "we're approaching the mission area."

"Good timing. The thief escaped into the debris field," one of the other pilots reported. "The new model mobile suit is clearly based off of the Unicorn to some degree, just so you're aware."

"The Unicorn?" Now Chase was very concerned. He knew that the series had been discontinued, and that the Unicorn and Banshee were supposed to be dismantled under inspection. If this was indeed another Unicorn, then either Zeon remnants or a third party were responsible. He frowned at the implications of a runaway Gundam.

"It appears to be, sir," the pilot replied. "Better be careful just in case."

"Anything else you can tell me about it?" Chase inquired.

"It's definitely got dark coloring, similar to the Banshee, but... it's also different. More like a dark shade of purple, bordering on black. That'll make it hard to spot, especially in the blackness of space."

"Great. Now we gotta find a sneaky ninja mobile suit," Nigel Garret of the Tri-Stars snarked.

"We always get to fight the weirdos and monsters, don't we," Daryl McGuinness asked.

"Just what we need," Watts Stepney shook his head, "more freaks."

Chase pursed his lips as he looked ahead. "Whatever the case is," he said, "we cannot allow the target to escape this airspace or enter any of the colonies. If need be, we'll shoot it down before it activates its weapons systems."

"Got it," the three pilots replied.

The foursome flew on ahead towards the area where the dark colored machine had last been seen.

Chase switched to his infrared, painting his monitor vision blue, with heat signatures showing as red-orange on the HUD.

His eyes flicked over the monitor, trying to spot the new mobile suit. "Hmm... now where would it be...?" he muttered.

"Nigel," Chase inquired, "any contact?"

"None," Nigel reported. "That thing's dark armor's gotta be concealing it."

"Maybe it's got some kinda stealth features," Garrett commented. "I mean, some machines do have that capacity, right?"

"Then it's all the more imperative to find it," Chase determined. It was then that the senior ranking Londo Bell pilot commanded, "Nigel, take your team and search the other sectors. I'll break off to expand the net."

"Yes, sir!" the three pilots replied. They split off in one direction while Chase searched another.

* * *

Seph shivered as he slowly poked his head out, his new optics scanning left and right for any intruders.

'Now what'll I do?' he thought. His new armor plating rattled against his metallic hide as he searched his surroundings.

The only good thing right now was that his armor was dark colored, making him incredibly hard to spot.

As he scanned the four new enemies, he found that he was up against one Delta Plus and three Jestas. Worse, these top of the line MS were registered to the EF's elite Londo Bell. He heard his share of war stories from ex-Londo Bell pilots now working for DarkSpace.

"Oh... crap...!" he moaned. He inched back into the ship's remains, huddling into a ball in the shadows. 'Please don't find me...' he thought to himself.

The Delta Plus in blue camo seemed to have particularly aggressive pilot at the controls. Judging by how fluid his movements between MS and Wave Rider modes were, Seph would have a cow of a time shaking him off.

Seph inched further into the shadows; he could barely see his own limbs due to how dark his armor was. Seph huddled closer to the wall of the carrier, his armor shaking. He felt his reactor increase its humming in his chest due to his worry and terror. 'Please go away... Please go away!' he pleaded mentally.

Unfortunately, the increased reactor activity did not go unnoticed. As Chase flew around, his radar lit up with a single dot showing increased reactor activity next to an abandoned carrier. "I'm detecting reactor activity behind that ship," Chase radioed to his allies, "must be the unknown contact."

"Good timing then!" Garrett remarked. "It's been a heck of a time trying to find the thief!"

"Can you try and head him off?" Nigel asked Chase. "My team and I can act in an ambush."

"Sure thing," Chase said as he charged his beam rifle, "the Delta Plus was built to pursue and destroy anyways." He thrust his throttle forward as he sped around the side of the ship.

"This is Crux, engaging!"

Seph's radar blared in his head and his HUD sent him the feedback. Had he been human, his stomach would've fallen to his feet. But instead, his reactor increased its output slightly more, and he began to panic. "Oh, crud...!" he whined.

He inched away from the ship's wall and turned to flee back into the depths of space. Suddenly, the blue Delta Plus sprang out from behind some debris and fired two shots at Seph.

"Yipes!" Seph turned and flew as fast as he could, his thruster pack sending shudders throughout his metal frame.

Chase then got a good look of the dark-colored MS that he was pursuing. His main camera zoomed in on the target, revealing it to be what seemed to be a dark purple, winged version of the Unicorn, with a very ornate horn to boot. It did not have any visible armaments, but it had high speed and mobility.

"Another Unicorn?" Chase wondered to himself before shaking his head. 'Doesn't matter,' he thought, 'we'll be darned if we let it escape!' He then changed his Delta Plus into Wave Rider mode and hit the thrusters.

Seph shot a glance back over his shoulder, only to see the Wave Rider coming at him. A panicked yelp escaped his new vocalizer and he weaved to the left, relying on his greater speed. Or so he hoped.

"You can't outrun me!" The Londo Bell commander proved himself very adept at high-speed fighter maneuvers, as he weaved the Delta Plus around the debris while maintaining his speed. As he closed the distance, he switched to his long-range air-to-air missiles mounted on the wings. Getting a lock-on, he let loose with two long, sleek missiles that streaked rapidly towards their target.

Seph let out a terrified yelp as he dove down, trying to avoid the missiles. "C'mon...! I need some ideas, or anything!"

He turned and fled between some debris, his thruster pack roaring in his audios. He managed to twist his frame around as the missiles exploded against the debris. "That was far too close!"

However, Chase was not about to let up. Locking onto Seph again, he let loose with four more long-range missiles. The sight of the missiles prompted Seph to push his thrusters to the limit. He was so scared at this point he was desperately wishing for some kind of weapons. Any weapons, really.

'As expected... this guy's fast,' Chase thought as he continued to maneuver after the Dracon, 'I just hope Nigel is ready to spring the trap.'

Seph's reactor was now racing double time in his chest as he sped through the debris field. "C'mon! How am I supposed to destroy these things?!"

He then remembered that he was the Dracon itself. If so, then he had more direct control of his weapons. He then mentally focused, and true enough, his system menu popped up on his HUD.

He was surprised at the amount of firepower the Dracon - no, he - possessed. Seph needed projectiles though, and sure enough, one of the options lit up - and he felt the weirdest sensation ever. He could feel a physical tingling in his head, where the Vulcans were located. He could feel the rotary cannons spin inside their housings!

"Ah!' He yelped, and the sensation stopped. "Okay... this is so freaky!" However, the sight of the missiles incoming caught his optic and he let out a small scream. The strange sensation started up again, and this time, he was caught by surprise as something else happened. Flashes of light reached his sight, and then he saw something streaking away from his helmet. He stared as he watched the tracers stream towards one of the missiles, shredding it to pieces and blowing it up. Now with a desperate idea, he started to pivot his head, keeping his mind focused on the Vulcans.

The blue bullets ripped through space, Seph using the reticle in his vision to aim the Vulcans. The remaining three projectiles were quickly intercepted, with one just barely grazing Seph with shrapnel.

"Missiles intercepted..." Chase grunted.

With that taken care of, Seph turned and flared his flight pack, trying to flee. However, he had no idea he was heading right for an ambush.

Chase continued to fly hard and fast, making sure that the unknown mobile suit never left his sight. He fired more beam rifle shots to the target's sides as a way of steering him in a particular direction. Seph's reactor was now whirring loudly to where he could actually feel his new chest armor vibrating. "Oh, crap! Crapcrapcrapcrap!" he cried, weaving and trying to avoid the shots.

"Just a little more..." Chase said. Seeing an opening, the Londo Bell commander did a high speed transformation into MS mode. With a blue flash of the optics, the blue Delta Plus got under the Dracon and fired upwards.

Seph managed to avoid the shot, but barely as he pulled back, his thrusters roaring. "Crud! I'm so dead!" he whined.

Seph shot upwards towards Industrial Six. Chase smirked; he had where he wanted him.

"Nigel," Chase prompted, "now!"

"Okay, guys! Hit it!" Nigel exclaimed.

"Yes, sir!" Garrett and Darryl cried.

Seph suddenly got a radar alert, as three Jestas showed up on his HUD as they discarded their fake asteroid camo.

"Nuts!" Seph suddenly found himself surrounded. Seph braked as best he could, trying desperately to find a way through the trap.

"Oh no, you don't!" Watts aimed his launcher and fired. The round streaked in front of Seph, before detonating and splintering into red-hot penetrators. Seph panicked as he felt the shards' heat on his armor. "Crap!" He tried to dodge, but a few lodged themselves into the seams of his armor plating. "AGH!"

"Eat this," Daryl shouted as he fired twice. Two rockets streaked towards Seph's back as his missile warning screamed in his head. Seph reacted by twisting his frame to the left and firing his head Vulcans in a panic. "Just stop!" he pleaded, but his plea went unheard in the soundless environment of space. Seph managed to destroy one rocket, but the other one broke through and exploded a few meters from the Dracon. Seph found himself showered in a molten hail. While the armor held, it felt like he was being stung by wasps. "Aahhh!" The burning overwhelmed his senses.

'I...Is this what... a mobile suit feels... when rockets hit?!' he thought as he struggled to remain conscious. The pain was intense, that much was certain.

Nigel then aimed his beam sniper rifle, lowering his visor to increase accuracy.

Seph reacted by bringing his mechanical arms up in front of his chest and face, trying to shield his reactor and head from any damage. "Ah!"

Nigel focused his scope onto the Dracon, with the system confirming a solid lock. "Say goodnight!"

Seph didn't know what else to do. Here he was, trapped in a mobile suit frame he couldn't control, let alone use, and he was being shot at by Londo Bell forces. He... He didn't want this! Not... one... bit!

Seph had no idea his instinct to live had overridden the limiters installed into his frame. His armor began shifting and changing, snapping open to expose a glowing violet inner framework. He didn't notice his frame getting taller by a full three meters, and seeming to become more muscular in its construction and appearance, let alone how his helm was changing.

All he could think about was living. His helm's visor retracted inside and the horn on his head snapped open into a golden V-fin, his true features now exposed.

He didn't even realize his voice had changed as well, becoming deeper and more powerful. "Leave me alone!" he cried, suddenly throwing his arms out, unleashing a surge of energy from his frame as the sniper shot came at him. The burst of energy caused the shot to dissipate, and narrowly missed Nigel's Jesta, but hit the rifle. Nigel pulled back, only to witness a shocking sight; his beam sniper rifle completely disintegrated!

Chase caught up to the Dracon, but noticed something different. It's wings were flared out, and it had grown bigger, with bright purple glowing parts. "Oh no..." The Londo Bell realized what was happening. As the dark purple mobile suit turned around, he knew that his worst fears had been recognized...

The Dracon WAS the Unicorn Gundam, and it had just engaged its Destroy Mode.

Poor Seph was too terrified to even notice. He just turned and fled, trying to find a new spot to hide. His frame was now shaking visibly in his fright.

"Lieutenant, did you see that," Daryl said in shock.

"I sure did..." Nigel squeaked. "That... That almost nailed me..."

Watts narrowed his eyes. "Sir, what do we do now?" he asked Chase.

Chase huffed in frustration. The situation was clearly a code red that could not go unabated. Now that the target was indeed a Unicorn Gundam, it was all the more reason why they had to capture the unit... or destroy it. "The three of you go back to rearm with heavy weapons and Base Jabbers," Chase ordered, "I'll continue pursuit in the Wave Rider."

Daryl looked to the Delta Plus as though its operator were insane. "That's a suicide mission! You saw what it nearly did to Nigel!"

"We have no choice!" Chase snapped. "I'll be darned if we let it get away and cause who knows what damages!"

The Tri-Stars looked at one another before nodding. "Yes, sir."

"Just don't get killed while waiting for us!" Nigel yelled over the comm.

Chase pursed his lips hard as he transformed the Delta Plus into a fighter and hit the afterburners. He rocketed after the fleeing purple Gundam, which was now as fast as he was.

Seph was too panicked to even notice the other three retreating. All he could think about was hiding and staying alive. He ducked into another destroyed carrier, slipping behind the wall of the hull. Of course his newly activated psychoframe gave away his location, alerting Chase to where he was hiding.

"You're as bright as a flare now!" Chase activated his flight nose launcher for a radar lock.

"Crap!" Seph turned and bolted, leaving a violet trail in his wake.

As the sudden maneuver broke the radar lock, Chase realized that missiles were not going to cut it. He had to get closer for a precise beam rifle shot.

"No choice..." Chase grunted as he went full afterburner. His chest tightened up from the inertial forces of the acceleration.

The panicking Gundam ducked around a cluster of rocks, not even bothering to watch where he was going. He shot a glance back over his shoulder, and he yelped, increasing his speed to full...

WHAM!

Seph collided with the side of a derelict vessel, doing the equivalent of a human going splat in a sitcom.

That was the last thing he recalled before his vision went dark.

At the same time, his psychoframe shut down and his armor returned to its original Unicorn Mode.

Chase had to stop himself from shooting. Transforming into MS mode, he was completely dumfounded by what he just witnessed.

'What is this,' he thought, 'he should have avoided that...' He raised his rifle as he began to scan for reactor activity. The unknown's reactor was humming steadily, but at a much lower output. It was enough to keep the suit active, he noted, but in a low power mode. Now Chase was really on edge. 'Is this a trap?' He circled the target as he continued to train his rifle. He was debating whether to shoot or not. But the Gundam just drifted there, limp and silent. It was as if the pilot had knocked himself out in his panic.

* * *

_** Ra Cailum ** _

As this was going on, Nigel and his team were finishing their preparations. Darryl looked to the commander of their trio. "So, you think the commander got the target?"

"I hope so," Nigel remarked. "But honestly, I'm hoping he hasn't gotten himself killed."

"Yeah. I hope so, too," Watts said seriously.

"Okay, you three. Everything's all set!" one of the techs replied as he glanced at them.

"Good. The sooner we launch, the better!" Nigel stated.

It was then that Captain Bright appeared on Nigel's monitor from the bridge. "That will not be necessary, Nigel," he said.

"Why not?" Nigel asked. "Did the thing knock itself out or something?"

"Well..." Bright was a bit off guard from Nigel's snark, "in a way, yes. Commander Lee has the target in his sights, but there's no activity from the Gundam."

It was then that both the Tri-Stars and _Ra Cailum_ were contacted by Chase. "This is Crux," he reported, "there's no movement from the target. Tell the Tri-Stars to launch with anti-MS nets so we can bring it in. Stay alert."

Nigel was surprised by the comment, as well as the fact that he was right. But he composed himself and nodded. "Yes, sir. We'll be out once we get properly equipped."

"Roger that," Chase said before the line cut out.

Daryl was completely dumbfounded now. "That's it," he questioned, "the Gundam just stopped like that?"

Watts seemed to be visibly ticked. "All this preparation for nothing! I'm more than a little sore right now!"

"I know, crazy as it sounds," Nigel remarked. "I don't even want to know what happened to cause it to knock itself out. Let's just get the thing back to the ship."

In truth, even he was a bit POed.

* * *

** Magallanica, Side 3, Republic of Zeon **

Mineva Lao Zabi sat in her office, contemplating the recent events and the fact that somehow, someone or something had rendered the revelation of Laplace's Box down to a mere footnote. There was a greater call for Spacenoid independence, sure, but no one else was even thinking of it. To her, this was worrisome.

Mineva kept her composure, but even the two older men in the room with her could tell that she was far from serene.

"It seems our efforts were for nothing..." Otto murmured sadly.

"Don't say that," Zinnerman reminded his Fed counterpart, "you're not exactly encouraging the princess here."

"..." Otto was silent as he looked down. The whole war... and now this... He felt like everything had been thwarted.

"I don't know what happened, either," the old Zeon veteran followed up, "I'm no Newtype, but it somehow feels that we've been missing a piece of the puzzle."

"A big one," Otto mused. "I thought we knew the whole story behind the Box."

The _Nahel Argama_ captain then frowned. "Perhaps with so many failed revolutions and destruction wreaked throughout the Earth Sphere, unless you were a die-hard Zeonist, you'd lose your appetite for reform and change... and unfortunately, who can blame people?"

"Perhaps, but... this whole thing... it seems as if someone stopped it cold..." Zimmerman mused.

Mineva frowned as she heard the conversation.

Now that she thought about it, it did seem like something had halted the impact the Box's revelation had on people...

"Mitas, Zinnerman..." Mineva hesitantly asked, "how are the rest of your crews holding up?"

"To be honest, Princess... not well," Otto admitted. "The morale is very low."

"Same here," Zinnerman said softly. "This has taken a toll on them."

Mineva pursed her lips. The whole post-Laplace ordeal had been taking a toll on the few allies she had at her side. With the _Nahel Argama_ disavowed by Londo Bell and the _Garencieres_ crew being persona non grata with the rest of the Zeon remnants, the Faction was in a very precarious position. No doubt that Monaghan Bakharov himself had plans for her that did not involve any guarantees of safety for her loyalists. Her eyes narrowed as she tried to figure out a plan of action.

"We're safe here in Zeon for now," Otto inputted, "but knowing that foreign minister's ambitions and influence, I don't think it will be long before he makes his move."

"Not to mention that ban on psychoframe mobile suits that we had to make to throw the Federation off our trail," Zinnerman added with a groan, "even in the event of an emergency, if we use the Unicorn and the Banshee, both the Federation and the Republic would go all out to destroy us. Not to mention, we're not even sure if both RX-0s' powers can be controlled if they grow any stronger. Either way, if we're attacked, we'll be outnumbered and outgunned."

"Yes. And it worries me," Mineva mused. Her eyes flicked to where the door to the mobile suit hangar was securely locked. There was so much they didn't know... and for that matter, who would try to cancel out the impact of the Box's revelation?

"For now, all we can do is pray for a miracle..."

They had no idea that they were soon about to get one.

* * *

**Ming Institute, Lunar Surface**

Ming's eyes narrowed as he pondered the next course of action. 'One year since the Laplace Declaration,' Ming thought, 'it's as we feared. The masterminds of the Universal Century are more dug in. Unless the contingency plan is initiated, all will be lost.' He looked to where the colony builder, Magallanica was located.

'The Unicorn, Lion, and Princess,' he mused, 'ironic how it all rests on the heirs of the three families that founded the Universal Century. Perhaps it's only fitting that they should end the old and begin anew...' Ming forced the thought from his mind as he looked to the screen showing the breaking news of the recent theft.

The anchor from the Dakar News Corporation was rattling off from a report provided by the Federation authorities about an unauthorized MS test flight being conducted around Side 7, and that the pilot went rogue and tried to steal the mobile suit. Fortunately, according to the report, Londo Bell forces were immediately dispatched from Luna II, and have succeeded in apprehending the suspect and the unit without casualties.

His eyes narrowed a bit. That mobile suit... it was his own design. He had built it with his own two hands... and now... he could only hope that someone worthy had taken it.

Beside him, Revil was also watching the report. "Someone must have leaked the details of the Dracon," Colonel Revil said, "this is not good at all..."

Dr. Ming took a deep breath. "I'm not too worried about them cracking the encryption on the La+ V2.0," he replied, "however, I must admit that the test pilot breaking the seals on the NT-D was completely out of the equation."

"Is that a bad thing?" Revil asked.

"At this point, we have no way of discerning who the pilot is, nor his intentions," Ming pointed out, "and at this point, we have to now assume that the Noblesse are watching the Dracon very closely."

The colonel knew he had a point. "All we can do now is hope for the best," he murmured. "And speaking of which, have we been able to get in contact with our ally?"

Dr. Ming chuckled a little despite the situation. "That's the easy part," he said, "he's been most supportive of the mission."

"Good. I think it is about time we try and get in contact with him and the Princess," Colonel Revil admitted. "She has to learn the truth..."

Then his gaze landed on the report of the stolen machine. "And we have to find out who that pilot is."

"I can get in touch with Londo Bell from my end," Colonel Revil indicated with some hope in his tone, "if the ship containing the Dracon is the _Ra Cailum_ , then Commander Bright will be most receptive." He remembered Bright well. His father, General Revil used to talk fondly of both Amuro Ray and Bright Noa. While he and Bright never met in person, Joseph was sure that Bright would recognize his name quite quickly.

"It would be quite reasonable for Bright to assume that Anaheim would be involved," Joseph added, "and as garrison commander of Von Braun, I should have little trouble getting him into a meeting of some sort."

"That would be a good idea, Joseph," Ming said. "The sooner, the better."

Then his gaze flicked back to the location of the colony builder. "I shall do what I can to get in touch with the Princess, as well."

Joseph nodded and saluted Ming. "Godspeed to us all."

The engineer nodded in response. "Yes. And let us pray for a victory this time around."

As Revil left for his post, Ming turned his eyes back to the news. However, the terminal on his desk began beeping.

The engineer looked over and tapped it. A grim look appeared in his eyes when he saw who it was.

As the old engineer tapped on the touchscreen, a certain blonde with blue eyes appeared. She was a recent edition to his circle of trust after the events surrounding Laplace's Box, and her revelations concerning the Federation, Vist Foundation, and even Luio and Company. "Dr. Ming. It has been some time," Beltorchika Irma said solemnly.

"Beltorchika," the Ming Institute head began, "I'm sure you heard about what transpired with both the Dracon and _Ra Cailum_." "I saw it on the news," the blonde said, "I was worried..."

"The _Ra Cailum_ ," Ming mentioned, "your boyfriend is stationed onboard, isn't he?"

"Yes," Beltorchika said softly. "He's a good person, but... with that... thing... in close proximity, I'm worried for his safety..."

"Just calm down, Beltorchika," Ming consoled her. "He will be just fine. The Dracon has several failsafes in place to keep the machine and pilot from acting on their own. The limiters are designed to activate ONLY when the machine's pilot is in a life-threatening situation. In addition, if it is activated in a non life-threatening situation, then there is a way to shut it down remotely, which only I have." He held up a small device that had a purple glowing switch. "I press this button, and it will shut down. The Dracon will also temporarily be rendered immobile until the pilot is secured."

"Besides..." the engineer smiled, "I hear that no one can fly with a transformable MS like Commander Chase Lee now, right? I do have to commend him for taking down the Unicorn Dracon with a rather standard machine."

Beltorchika grinned at his comment. "That is true. And I will tell him you said that," she said. Then she went serious. "There is another issue though..."

"I guessed that much," Ming replied, "what is it about?"

"See for yourself." Beltorchika gestured to a small image that appeared in the corner of the screen.

The old engineer saw an image of a golden figure soaring through space in some glowing blue aura. It was a recon photo taken by one of the Institute's covert ReZEL pilots. His old eyes having difficulty focusing, he clicked on the image to zoom in. As the resolution cleared up, his eyes widened. "It's... it can't be..." he whispered. The mobile suit in question had been missing for over a year.

"The Phenex...!" Dr. Ming's eyes narrowed. "So... it's returned, I see." The reappearance of Unit 3 now threw a wrench into everything. Was it a friend, or a foe? "Irma... continue to relay all relevant information regarding Unit 3's movements and intentions. Whatever happens, we cannot let it fall into the wrong hands," Dr. Ming ordered.

"Understood," Beltorchika acknowledged, "and what about the _Ra Cailum_ and Londo Bell?"

"I will handle things on that end," the engineer replied. His eyes flashed. "We have to make sure the plan goes through this time. No matter what..."

_**Chapter 2 End** _


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own Gundam Unicorn, Gundam Narrative, or the Gundam franchise.**

* * *

**Location Unknown**

**September, UC 0097**

_Booting..._

_Systems operational_   
_Weapons systems: online_   
_Servos: online_   
_Thrusters: online_   
_Communications: online_   
_Optical systems: online_   
_Audial systems: online_   
_Vocalization systems: online_   
_Olfactory systems: online_   
_Radar: online_   
_Psychoframe: offline - activation pending_   
_Newtype-Destroyer System: offline - activation pending_   
_Minovsky Reactor: Online_   
_Memory files: Online_   
_Booting Files..._   
_Files booted_   
_Beginning startup sequence..._   
_Sequence complete..._

'Ugh... My head...'

Seph slowly felt himself coming back from the depths of oblivion.

His entire body ached, and for a moment he wondered if it had all been just a dream.

A laugh escaped him. 'Yeah. There's no way I became... a...'

His thoughts died off as the HUD came online.

'Oh... crap...' was his first thought as the information retreated to the corners of his vision. Static gave way to images as his new audios came back online.

"The Gundam's active!" One of the Ra Cailum mechanics panicked.

"You said that it was inactive!" Another yelled.

Seeing the Gundam's optics flash and move its head, Chase realized that the ship was in danger. Still piloting his Delta Plus, he quickly grabbed the Dracon's arms.

Seph let out a panicked yelp and tore his arm free, but his balance was way off, and he at once realized that his new frame was not just bigger, but taller as well. And that threw his sense of direction off. He felt a sense of vertigo overcome him and he actually staggered back, only to trip over his big metal feet as a result.

"Look out," Chase yelled as the mechanics scrambled out of the way.

The mechanics managed to get out of the way in time as the Gundam fell flat on his back, the wind knocked from his intakes. "Ugh... Man..." he muttered as he pushed himself into a sitting position, only to realize that the Delta Plus was looking at him like its pilot was ready for a fight. He squeaked and scrambled back until his back was right against the wall of the hangar.

Chase rushed forward, drawing a beam saber from his shield, but not turning it on. He drove the Delta Plus' knee into one of the Dracon's legs, used his left arm to push on the right arm, and put his beam saber right where the cockpit would normally be.

"Gundam pilot," Chase radioed, "power down your mobile suit or I will destroy your cockpit and kill you!"

Seph's head snapped to face him, and Chase saw something totally unexpected in those violet optics.

Terror.

Pure, raw, human terror.

'What the heck,' the Londo Bell was startled. However, he allowed his training to kick in,and kept his weapon trained. "You have five seconds to comply," he warned.

Seph shook his head. "I can't!" he cried.

"Wrong answer." The beam saber started to glow blue, as Chase's finger tightened on the switch.

"I'm serious!" Seph cried. "I can't power down!" He was starting to panic again, his frame beginning to glow slightly.

"Don't activate the NT-D," Chase warned, "I'll do it before you can blink. At least power down the psychoframe, then we talk."

Seph nodded frantically. "Y-Yes, sir..." he squeaked. "Just... get that beam saber away from my chest..."

He tried his best to keep it from activating, and much to his relief, it stopped glowing. Some part of him wondered if it was tied into his instinct for fight or flight, or something else. Seeing the Unicorn unit power down, Chase wasted no time grabbing it and pushing it against one of the cradles. "Restrain it. Now!"

"Hey! What gives?!" Seph blurted, trying to escape.

"Right, sir!" The hangar controller activated the cradle locks on the Dracon.

"Let me go!" Seph protested, straining against the locks. The locks strained, but they held firm against his strength.

Seeing that the pilot would not stop or open his cockpit, Chase called, "control, can we get an OS lock on this guy?"

Seph squeaked at that. He ceased all his attempts to escape, although he couldn't help but shake in his terror. "I-I'll stop!" he stammered. The controller at the same time inputted the commands for the OS lock.

Strangely, though, the OS lock wouldn't trigger. The controller looked at it and tried a few more times. "Sir, it's no good."

"What do you mean," Chase inquired.

"There's..." The controller handed the data tablet over. "The security is too good. But there's also something else." He highlighted the section in question. "There are NO cockpit controls... whatsoever."

Now THAT was news. Chase blinked for a bit before facing the Dracon. Seph tried to shrink back from the man's machine. His shoulders hunched as best they could in the locks. "..." He was silent, but then Chase saw it again.

That same terror within those violet optics. Pure, raw, human terror.

"Wait a minute..." he said aloud, "what is going on here? Why am I hearing from my hangar control that there are no cockpit controls to disable?"

"B...Because there aren't any..." Seph finally managed to whisper.

"What are you talking about?" Chase asked, "is this some sort of game?"

"No... It's not..." Seph began to shiver. "I... I'm not in the suit because... I AM the suit..."

A palpable silence fell over the hangar. No one said anything as an accompanying chill set in. Even the three Tri-Star pilors dismounting from their Jestas had no words for what was said.

Seph turned his head away, wishing he could bury his face in his hands, or even better, sink into the floor. "I... I don't even know how it happened!" he muttered, his voice cracking.

"You... you can't be serious," Chase said in disbelief, "are you?"

Seph looked to Chase, and he saw in those violet optics pure human emotion. "I'm not joking," he whined. "I really AM the mobile suit!" His shoulder shook as he began to break down crying.

Chase had been through some of the most surreal situations in his military career, including the Axis Shock of the Second Neo Zeon War. However, he was completely speechless and staring at the Dracon in the horrific realization that the pilot's mind was trapped inside.

* * *

**Captain Bright's Office**

"What's that," Bright's shocked voice rang out. Chase and Nigel were reporting to him on what had happened in their pursuit of the Dracon and the events inside the hangar.

"It's true," Nigel replied. "The kid said he WAS the suit, not inside it like we initially assumed."

"I had a thermal and x-ray scan of the mobile suit done by the techs," Chase added, "there are definitely no signs of any cockpit or human pilot inside. A system scan is also showing brainwave traces associated with human life." He handed over the tablet with the aforementioned charts to the captain. Bright took them and looked them over with a serious gaze in his eyes. "The machine is indeed an RX-0 model," Chase added, "with a complete psychoframe and NT-D."

"And a human mind inside the damn thing," Nigel muttered.

Captain Bright was deeply troubled. He had seen his fair share of illegal and unethical human experiments, but this one made them all look like bad pranks. He shuddered at what the pilot went through to be in theis state. "The pilot," he asked, "have you identified him?"

"He did give us his name," Nigel continued. "He said his name is Joseph Matthews, but that he prefers to be called Seph for short."

He then jerked a thumb back in the direction of the hangar. "The techies are wondering what we should do with the kid. We can't keep 'im locked up all the time."

"Neither can we let him off the ship," the Delta Plus pilot reminded, "he does not fit the profile of a psycho taking a prototype MS on a murder spree either. Something fishy is going on, and I have a feeling that we are being used."

Bright pursed his lips. "Hmm... well, for now, let the kid out of the locks every now and then. But keep him under guard. Until we know more about what's going on with the boy, he is to not be allowed off this ship. He can be allowed to move around in the hangar bay to keep the machine from locking up periodically, but that is it."

Chase acknowledged, "yes sir."

It was then that the door bell rang. "Captain Bright, permission to enter."

"Enter," Bright prompted.

The door slid open and Meran entered. "Sir, I have a report on the company responsible for the boy's... predicament," he replied.

"Well," Bright urged.

"First off, it turns out this particular machine was the result of a collaboration between the Ming Institute and Anaheim. Anaheim did most of the mechanics for the frame, but the program that... left the kid inside the frame was developed by the Institute," Meran replied.

"Ming Institute," Bright questioned, "isn't that a private research think tank on the Moon?"

"It is," Meran replied. "They specialize in studying past data and researching current events to try and compare the two. They then discuss the outcome and what can be done to try and achieve a better compromise for two parties to work together." He then paused. "At least that's what the gist of it is." He handed the tablet to Bright.

"Wait a minute," Chase interjected, "isn't there a Ming Institute facility operating here in Side 7?"

"There is," Meran replied. He turned to face the Delta Plus pilot. "But it's currently undergoing reconstruction. Why do you want to know?"

Chase took on a determined expression. "If this Ming Institute, and Anaheim are involved in this, it's all the more reason for us to investigate," he said, "psychoframe and psycommu developments are illegal, and if this is an attempt to circumvent the ban to create more Cyber-Newtypes, Londo Bell must intervene."

The lieutenant commander turned towards his CO. "Captain Bright, sir," he said, "I request permission to enlist the Tri-Star Team and the _Ra Cailum_ marine detachment in apprehending the Ming Institute staff responsible for Seph's condition. We'll go for a surprise blitz and arrest the researchers."

Bright tented his fingers in front of his mouth. "Hm. Very well. But when you get back, I'd like you to try and help the boy with his balance and movement. I heard his impact with the hangar floor all the way up here."

Chase had to stop himself from groaning. 'Babysitting a boy... this was not in the job description.' "Will do, sir," he saluted, which Bright reciprocated.

With that, Chase prompted, "Nigel, get your team ready. We've got arrests to make."

Nigel grinned. "Yes, sir!" he replied. The two senior Londo Bell pilots departed the room, leaving Meran and Bright alone.

"Hope they succeed..." Meran mused softly.

"They will," Bright replied, "I'm not worried about that..." He pressed his hands together and squeezed. "However, given last year's conspiracy surrounding Laplace's Box and the psychoframe weapons," he said, "I'm starting to feel that we haven't seen the end of it."

Meran nodded. "And something tells me that the..." Here he hesitated, unsure of how to refer to Seph as either a human or Gundam. "The kid in the hangar... is a part of it..."

Bright looked to his second-in-command. "Whatever you do, don't take your eyes off the Gundam," he advised.

"I won't," Meran said as he turned to his superior. "And that brings us back to the next question. What do we do with the kid?"

Bright contemplated. It seemed that no matter what, from his friend Amuro Ray to Banagher Links, he was always catching boys falling into Gundams under his watch. Except this time, the boy WAS the Gundam. 'Noa Bright,' he thought to himself, 'what are you going to do with yourself...'

* * *

Chase launched ahead of the Tri-Stars, who followed in sequence. Just behind the Delta Plus and the Jestas were two landing shuttles, loaded with armed marines and mini-MS, ready to secure the port and the Ming Institute Branch inside Industrial Six.

"This is Crux," Chase radioed in, "we are enroute. ETA five minutes to target."

"Roger," the _Ra Cailum_ acknowledged, "your objective is to escort Phantoms One and Two to their respective targets. You're cleared to engage or detain any hostiles you encounter."

"Roger," Chase accepted.

"Crux, this is Phantom 1," one of the marine leaders radioed, "we're moving to secure the LZ for insertion and extraction. We're counting on you and the Tri-Stars to get us to touchdown safely."

"Phantom 2 here," another called in, "we'll move into Industrial Six and secure the target."

"Copy that," Chase chimed, "we'll get you and your men down safe. Follow me." With that, he pushed his throttle forward, accelerating towards the colony. It was then that the Londo Bell mobile suit commander changed frequencies. "Attention, Industrial Six port control," he called out, "this is the Earth Federation Space Force's Londo Bell Task Force. In light of the recent pursuit in this airspace involving the unknown mobile suit, we are hereby invoking our authority to inspect the local facilities." He waited a few seconds, but there was just silence.

"Port control," Chase tried again, "I repeat, this is Londo Bell. We are coming in to inspect the colony facilities. Please confirm." Again there was no response. Chase could not even bring up a radio feed. "Industrial Six port control, please respond."

"Looks to me like there's something else going on," Nigel muttered. "The whole place seems to be dark."

"Either that or someone triggered a shutdown on accident," Daryl remarked.

"I dunno. I think something happened, like a virus or something," Watts said.

"Either way," Nigel finished, "it doesn't matter. We're going to find out what's going on."

"That's right," Chase concurred, "Phantoms, move in and secure the hangar."

"Roger that!" Phantom One replied. "Moving in now!"

Nigel waved at Watts towards the port opening. "Watts, escort Phantom Team into the port."

The other pilot nodded and started to guide the team in. His eyes were hard as he picked out a few good spots to set down. "Phantom Team is on the ground," Watts reported. The team started to spread out, searching for any of the targets.

* * *

**Inside the Ming Institute, Side 7 Branch...**

The engineers were worried.

The whole team was worried. And not just for the safety of the test pilot, but also because of what they had learned through the news.

One of the engineers was busy combing through the system using his tablet. "Crap... The whole system's shot!" he muttered.

"Any idea as to what caused it?" Dr. Lombardi asked.

"Yeah. It was one heck of a computer virus," the engineer replied.

"It's dark," one of the techies groaned, "who turned out the lights!?"

"It's the fault of that virus," the engineer replied. "Somehow it shut everything down as well as the prototype system."

Tina was trying the emergency release on the piloting pod.

"I could use some help here!" she cried. She pulled on the release a bit harder, but due to the power being out, it was almost impossible.

Dr. Lombardi took his tablet and wired it to the pod.

"It should take a minute," he said. His fingers danced over the tablet, but nothing happened.

"Nothing's working," Lombardi dreaded, "the whole system's crashed."

"Seph..." Tina looked at the pod in worry. "I hope he's okay..."

It was then that Tina's ears picked up on a bunch of noises just outside the door. Before she could listen in further, a loud sizzling sound, combined with a bright light and sparks emanated from the door.

"Oh, crud..." she whispered. "We're in trouble...!"

There were several hard pops, and the door came tumbling as men in tactical gear wielding rifles and flashlights stormed in.

"Londo Bell, hands up!"

"Get down on the ground!"

The entire crew did as they were told.

"What's Londo Bell doing here?!" she whispered to herself.

One of the EFF marines, most likely the leader, stepped out and barked, "which one of you is in charge here?"

Dr. Lombardi raised a shaking hand. "I am." The marine looked to his two subordinates next to him, and pointed at Lombardi. The two briskly walked forward and grabbed Lombardi by the arms. The marine on his left slapped cuffs on him quickly, and looking at his name-tag said, "Mr. Lombardi, you and your staff are hereby under arrest for illegal psychoframe development, human experiments, and releasing a lethal weapons system resulting in endangerment of the citizens of Side 7."

The scientist was surprised, but didn't protest. Off to the side, Tina raised a hand. "Um... I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have a bit of a situation here," she said, pointing to the pod. One of the marines shined a glaring light in her face. "What is it," he said in a tough tone.

"The pod won't open, and there's someone inside," Tina said.

The marine came up alongside the pod and examined it with his helmet light. He gestured towards the release latch with his rifle. "Have you tried this," he asked.

"I tried that," Tina said. "The whole system's shot. It won't open." She was clearly worried for the occupant.

Understanding what she meant, the Londo Bell operative whistled to his next comrade. "Blowtorch," he prompted, "get this thing open."

Meanwhile, the other marines began forcefully escorting the staff out, while ransacking the files and functioning laptops and tablets for intel. "Get moving, Anaheim scum," one marine shoved Lombardi along with his rifle. The scientist winced, but followed with the command.

Meanwhile another marine approached with a blowtorch and handed it over. "Here." Tina watched anxiously as the marines began to cut the pod open, even as she was being handcuffed. The pod was opened a few minutes later, and the marines were surprised to see that inside was a young man, about nineteen years old, dressed in a very unique pilot suit.

"Hey kid," one of the marines said as he lowered his rifle and stepped in. Seeing that he was not moving or responding whatsoever, the marine shook his shoulder, only for Seph to slump to the side. "Kid?" the marine asked again, but no response.

Tina jerked herself free from the marine holding her and ran towards him. "Seph!" she cried. "Hey," the marine beside the pod tried to stop her.

"He's the test pilot!" Tina shouted.

She knelt beside the still boy. "Seph, wake up!" The marine beside her worked to remove Seph's helmet, shining his light wherever he could. It was then that he found the latch and released it, allowing him to get the helmet off. As soon as it was off, the marine was greeted with the sight of a blank, lifeless stare.

"Come on, talk to me," the marine said as he held up Seph's face, slapping it and shining the light into his eyes. There was completely no reflex or response. "Kid?" Still no response.

Tina began to get worried. Had his mind been erased by the back flow of the Neuro-Link?!

Seeing the futility of it, the marine called out, "Sergeant, we've got one non-responsive here. Requesting assistance in triaging the pilot."

"Roger!" the sergeant replied.

As he came over, Tina began to weep softly. "Crux," the sergeant radioed, "this is Phantom 2, target secured and staff in custody. We've got one casualty, believed to be the test pilot in need of triage."

"Copy that, Phantom 2" Chase radioed back, "triage the casualty, pull out all staff and intel, and extract from the area. We're securing the airspace for your exfil."

"Affirmative," the sergeant acknowledged. He then took the sobbing girl by the arm. "Off we go." The team escorted the captives out of the facility, bringing Seph's body with them.

* * *

Outside in the colony hangar, Martha Preston, one of Seph's wingmen, waited nervously. "Geez... it's been days since he got that request..." she muttered. "Think he's okay?"

Hunter Jenkins' snort came over the comm. "Probably. Maybe they asked him to do more tests."

"Hunter, I'm serious!" Martha insisted. "He'd usually call us to inform us if anything like that happened!"

"Besides," Martha pointed out, "what's with the lights? It's so dark in here."

"Not sure," Hunter said. "I'm guessing a power failure or something?"

"Looks like it..." Martha then checked her phone for reception; there was none. "Great," she groaned, "I can't reach the Institute or any of our wingmen!"

"How are we gonna get in contact with them without power?" Hunter asked as he tried his mobile suit's comm systems. "Crud..." Hunter murmured as he got static on the radio.

"Any luck?" Martha asked.

"No jack," Hunter said, "at this point, the only logical conclusion would be to arm our suits, bust these doors open..." The PMC pilot glanced towards the jammed hangar bay doors. "...and make contact with the others."

It was then that they heard a pounding on one of the cargo hatches.

Martha's head shot over to the door as she aimed her machine's weapon at the door. "We got company!" she muttered.

It was then that the doors buckled and gave way, as several mini-MS and soldiers rushed in with weapons drawn.

"Contact, three o'clock, two MS," one of the soldiers in Federation uniform called out.

Martha yelped as she prepared to fire. "What's the Federation doing here?!" she blurted.

"They're targeting us, fire!" The mini-MS fired their heavy machineguns as the other marines dove for cover. Hunter looked back in shock as he closed his cockpit. He pulled his machine behind cover as Martha did the same. Her own cockpit closed up as she let loose a colorful swear in disbelief and shock. Her GM raised its rifle, trying to get a lock. But in the hangar, it was a lot easier said than done.

It was then that some of the Federation marines began laying down fire with light machine guns, going for the GMs' sensors. Two of the marines then began assembling their RPGs and aimed them right at the mobile suits.

Hunter tried to shield his GM's optics with a hand, but it was easier said than done with the other fire coming at him. Martha was also in the same situation. "We've got to get out of here," Hunter spoke to Martha, "we'll be surrounded at this rate!"

"I gotta agree on that one!" Martha remarked. "But how?"

One of the EFF marines fired his RPG at Hunter. He barely put up his shield to cover his main camera.

"Shoot out the hangar doors!" Hunter pointed over towards the exit.

Martha nodded. "Got it!" She aimed her beam rifle at the hangar doors, pulling the trigger for a charged shot. Both Hunter and Martha fired their rifles at the door, melting through the metal with repeated shots and causing the hangar to depressurize. "Let's bail!" Hunter cried as he kept firing, running for the hangar doors. The EFF marines grabbed onto whatever they could, even the mini-MS as the air rushed out of the air lock.

"Crux, this is Phantom 1," the marine sergeant called, "we've got two hostiles running in Hangar Five. Two GM Quels! Can you intercept?"

"Roger," Chase radioed back, "Tri-Star One and I have just finished mopping up the four hostiles outside of the colony. We'll take care of them. Secure Phantom 2's extraction route."

"Roger, we'll at least try to slow them down." The group proceeded to lay down fire to try and stop the GM Quels from escaping as well as to secure the extraction route.

"Go go go!" Hunter was about to take off when one of the RPGs hit one of his backpack thruster nozzles.

"There," one of the mini-MS operators pointed at Hunter's GM, "focus fire on that GM!"

"Hunter!" Martha cried. She moved into position, dodging the shots from the mini MS before grasping Hunter's GM from behind and igniting the flight pack. "Let's go!"

The two PMC pilots took flight out of the hangar, as Martha's GM went full thrust, while Hunter's GM struggled with output.

Hunter swore a bit. "Those guys have good aim..." he remarked as he looked at the damage to his sensors and some thrusters.

"Yeah. But then again, they are Londo Bell," Martha noted. She slowly drifted back to grasp his GM's hand. The two rocketed into the main bay of the colony's port. Martha expected a clean shot into space, but her radar alert blared as she picked up an EFF IFF. She turned her main camera towards the signature: an RGM-89 Jesta that turned around and spotted the both of them.

"Crud..." she whispered.

Watts aimed his machine's beam rifle at the duo. "There you are! Freeze!"

Martha reacted by using her GM to shield Hunter's. She aimed her gun and prepared to fire.

Watts opened up on the pair with full auto, beam impulses flying at them in bursts. Martha's machine jolted as she raised the shield, but it was to no avail. Her machine was damaged, losing an arm and leg, as well as sustaining damage to its thrusters.

"Martha!" Hunter raised his rifle and fired at the Jesta. Having some time to recover with some cover fire, Martha also raised her rifle and fired as she and Hunter tried to back away into space. Watts was forced to raise his shield as he tried to maneuver with the limited space inside the bay.

Crud... These guys are good!" Watts muttered.

Where were the rest of the reinforcements?

Hunter prompted, "let's get out of here!" He turned his GM Quel towards the exit, still holding onto Martha's MS.

The woman nodded as she proceeded to follow. "C'mon... Just a bit longer..." she muttered.

However, they had no idea they were backing right into a trap.

It was then that the radar alert sounded again. Before either of them could respond, a blue Delta Plus transformed out of Wave Rider mode at high speed up close to them and sliced through with his beam saber. The GMs' remaining limbs and main cameras floated off as the torsos with their cockpits drifted helplessly.

"That's two more in the bag," Chase muttered to himself as he sped around. Chase looked to Watts. "Secure these two and bring them back to the ship."

"Yes, sir!" Watts replied, giving a salute. As he collected the two cockpits, Chase's thoughts drifted back to the boy. He was not looking forward to his first 'babysitting duty' very much. Especially when the kid in question was stuck inside a powerful war machine. And when he had to train the kid to use said machine as his body.

* * *

**Deep space...**

The pilot of the ReZEL narrowed his eyes as he observed the flashing blue light. It was fast, and he knew what it was.

"This is Antares One," the pilot reported, "I have visual. Golden Wings sighted." The pilot of the black-colored RGZ-95D Stealth ReZEL stared out his cockpit as the monitor focused on the flashing blue light. It was going very fast, but he could faintly make out the gold from the figure inside.

"Good job, Antares," Beltorchika radioed back from her safe location, "what's its location and where is it heading?"

Antares double-checked his radar and map. "We're currently in the Shoal Zone around L5," he reported, "but Golden Wings seems to be flying around at random. It's as though its just free-lancing about."

"Hmm... Try to get in closer. I suspect it may be up to something."

Antares accelerated his Stealth ReZEL to top speed, turning into Wave Rider mode at the same time. The custom ReZEL wove its way around the debris as it tried to keep up with the Unicorn Phenex.

The glowing light weaved past some debris, with Antares on its tail. But that was what saved his life.

The last thing he expected was to be set upon by three black colored Jestas, each of them bearing an unknown emblem upon their shoulder guards. Antares gritted his teeth as he dodged their beam rifle fire, only to discover that their shots were missing. He glanced at his radar and was surprised to see that much further ahead off to the right was a cluster of those machines.

Ahead of him was the blue light, and he realized that the target had led him purposely away from the Jestas.

"What the heck?" Antares was befuddled. Not wanting to take any chances, he immediately transformed into MS form and aimed his beam rifle.

He fired at the Jestas, causing them to scatter and try to attack him from three different angles.

"Nuts," Antares, a Londo Bell veteran exclaimed as he initiated combat maneuvers. His eyes hardened as he swerved before aiming his beam rifle and firing again. This time he got a hit on one of them as it flew out of control, its missing leg only making it harder for the pilot to control it.

The lock-on alert blared in Antares' ears as one of the other Jestas fired missiles at him. He fired his head Vulcans, managing to scrap two of them, but the other two managed to get through. Antares raised his ReZEL's shield, blocking one missile, but the other made it through and blew the left arm clean off from the elbow down. "Ugh!"

"Nuts...!" he muttered. He aimed his beam rifle and fired again, only for one of the Jestas to pounce on him. He whirled around, trying to bring his remaining arm up to block...

And then it happened.

A wave of... something... slammed into the enemy and the Jesta was knocked back by it. His ReZEL was thrown back from the force and he righted himself, his eyes widening as he stared at the glowing golden mobile suit, its left hand outstretched as it shimmered with power. "The Phenex?" Antares was confused.

The golden machine looked in his direction, its yellow optics pulsing with an unknown light. Then it gestured as if to say 'go.'

Feeling both weirded out, and seeing the damage to his MS, Antares wasted no time transforming into Wave Rider mode and flying away as the other Jestas focused on the Phenex.

Antares fled. His machine's thrusters hummed in his hearing as he pushed it. "C'mon...!" he muttered. However, in his haste to get away, he failed to see another two Jestas coming up from behind, this time from the cluster he had just avoided. Antares saw beam shots zipping past his vision. He made an evasive barrel roll, but found the controls to be sticky from battle damage. "Come on," he urged his MS, "stay with me!" The ReZEL responded, but sluggishly.

A beam shot then grazed one of the stealth box binder units, knocking Antares into a spin.

"Agh!" The veteran ex-military pilot struggled to regain control as the Jestas closed in. His eyes narrowed as he gunned it. The battered ReZEL was still going, but he knew his machine couldn't take much more.

It was then that two speeding golden objects flew about the Jestas and slammed into them. One MS tried to shoot back at one of the objects, only to have another ram into him, causing him to lose his weapon.

Antares looked back in shock as the two golden objects revealed themselves to be shields. The golden mobile suit in question floated in front, its hands outstretched as if directing the shields at will. "Is it... protecting me?" This day keptgetting weirder. The golden machine looked back at him, and the weirdest thing happened.

He heard a voice inside his head. The voice sounded... young... and female.

'Go. You need to get back to safety,' the machine said. 'It is imperative you report this back to your superior.'

"W-who are you?" Antares was really having a freaky day!

'Just call me a friend,' was all the golden mobile suit said. 'And go! Now!'

Antares nodded and just kept flying straight, while the Phenex continued to fly in inhuman circles around the attackers. As he fled, all he could think about was the strange encounter. And for that matter, something seemed off about the golden mobile suit...

* * *

**Luio & Company, New Hong Kong**

The interior of the company building gave off a very unique vibe when one observed it. Within the center tower was a small Oriental building, a bunch of Asian lantern lights hanging around it. It looked more like a shrine, but it was far from it.

This small building was where Michelle Luio resided. In the solitude of her custom quarters, Michelle's eyes scanned over the files on the Unicorn Gundam and the powers it displayed over a year ago. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned them. "Singularity One..." she murmured, lifting a moving image and watching as the Unicorn fired its beam magnum. The official story had been that both the Unicorn and Banshee had been dismantled with inspectors present to assuage the public's fear. However, she and a select few knew it was not true. The Mineva Faction's secret pact with the Federation was a cover for the former to disappear into the shadows.

Michelle placed it down and scanned over another image, this time of the Unicorn attacking with its beam tonfas. "The power that lies within..."

Footsteps behind her caught her attention and she turned to look at the young man as he approached. With his grey hair and glasses, Brick Teclato looked the part of Michelle's straight-forward adjutant. "My lady," he said.

"Brick... any news?" Michelle asked as she looked at him. "On the whereabouts of Unit three?"

"We're tracking the Phenex," he reported, "but with the speed it's moving at, our information becomes outdated as quickly as it updates." He kept his composure as he said this. "So far," he added, "it has steered clear of inhabited areas of space to keep a low profile."

"I see. Make sure you don't lose sight of it," Michelle ordered. "And second, did you find any information on that dark colored mobile suit?"

"No, my lady," Brick said, "whatever information I can gather is restricted under Londo Bell authority. What I do know, is that it was the _Ra Cailum_ under Noa Bright's command that captured it."

"Very well." Michelle scanned over the information on the Unicorn again, her gaze landing on an image hidden beneath the others. She pulled it out as it showed the pulse effect. "Hm. This..."

"That," Brick remarked, "was during the Laplace Declaration, when the Federation forces pursuing Magallanica suddenly ceased to function."

He then came over and brought up another image. "Upon recovery and examination," he explained, "they found that the mobile suits had their generators completely disassembled. It was as though they were never built."

Michelle's eyes widened at seeing this. "What...?"

This had to be... was it possible?

"What happened is unknown, but we can only theorize that the Unicorn somehow manipulated time," Brick explained.

"Hmm..." Michelle mused. If the Unicorn had the ability to reverse the time and age of a target...

That was it. She stood up. "Brick, keep tabs on the Phenex. Track its whereabouts and do not let it out of your sight." Her eyes hardened. "I know what to do next."

"You're planning on its capture," Brick deduced.

Michelle said nothing, but nodded.

"Very well," the faithful assistant said, "I shall see to the necessary preparations." With that he turned and left the room.

Michelle turned back to the images of the Unicorn. "The power to reverse time itself..." Her eyes narrowed. "I will have that power..."

* * *

**_Ra Cailum_ , around Side 7 space**

"All hands, prepare to receive Phantom Team transports and mobile suits," the CIC announced across the hangar. Seph moved his Gundam head about, feeling jittery even as the cradle was holding him down. Though Chase and the Tri-Stars left, the former had ordered two of the other _Ra Cailum's_ miscellaneous Jesta pilots to stand guard over him. Chase seemed to be less hostile, but given how Seph tried to run from him, he was not taking chances.

'Crud... How can anyone stand this?!' he thought, trying to get somewhat comfortable, which was a lot easier said than done. And it didn't help he felt something pressing into his back, either.

"Hey kid," one of the Jestas turned towards him, "stop rattling so much. Those cradles are not cheap, you know."

"I can't help it!" Seph shot back. "I feel so cramped in this thing!"

The other Jesta pilot sighed, "seriously, babysitting this man-child? How do we get stuck with all the weird crud jobs like this?"

Seph felt an unexplained urge to spread his wings (could he?), but since he was restrained, it wasn't like he could. But he could at least speak. "I'm not a man-child, you know!" he snapped. "I'm just uncomfortable!"

"Watch it kid," Jesta pilot 1 warned, "you don't want either Captain Bright or Commander Lee getting on your case any further."

"Yeah," Jesta pilot 2 concurred, "Captain Bright will put you down before you can blink." He then paused, before adding, "though now he'll need a mobile suit to do it."

Jesta pilot 1 laughed. "Imagine, Captain Bright giving an MS-sized slap," he jested, "real nasty!"

Seph's optics flared behind his visor as he felt his faceplate burning in embarrassment. He turned away to watch as the crews prepared to receive the transports and the teams.

"Tri-stars One and Two, coming in," the lead Jesta pilot, Nigel Garrett as Seph remembered his name, announced as he and his team came down onto the rear outer deck. Two of the Tri-Stars landed first, and one of them looked in his direction. The Gundam diverted his gaze, looking down at his big metal feet instead. Daryl quipped, "so, the new kid behaving himself?"

"As best as he can," Jesta 1 remarked. "Although he does say he feels uncomfortable in that cradle."

"How can a mobile suit feel uncomfortable anyway?" Jesta 2 joked.

Seph shifted as best he could, not that he could do much movement anyway. And what was causing this aching sensation against his back?! "Sheesh... What's this aching sensation?" he grumbled. "Feels like something's pressing into my back!"

Nigel looked over to Seph. He still found it hard to believe that the Unicorn Gundam Dracon was actually the pilot himself. "Hey, you," he called out, "don't even bother trying to break out. Even if you did, Commander Lee is just going to chase you down, bring you back, and really devise an OS lock that will really freeze you up."

"Like I could!" Seph retorted. "I can't even relieve this aching against my back like this!"

Now one of the Jesta pilots was agitated. "Okay," he remarked, "now you're just being ridiculous."

Seph was about to make a retort when he noticed Nigel looking at him and he immediately muted his vocalizer.

"All hands," the controller announced, "prepare to receive Tri-star Three and Commander Lee's Delta Plus."

Seph's helm perked up as he looked to where the last two members were coming in. A strange sensation filled his neck where his vocalizer was, almost like he had a lump forming there. It was so weird, and he made a noise akin to a nervous swallow before the sensation faded. He shuddered in the locks.

It was then that Seph heard Chase over the coms. "Crux here. Coming in with two cockpit sphere modules of captured hostiles. Have some of the marines prepare extra cuffs for them." His very frame began to shake at the implications. What hostiles?

As Chase walked his mobile suit in, he looked down at the cockpits and the shuttles. Setting his captured cockpit down, he prompted, "okay boys, let's get them offloaded."

Watts set down his captured cockpit and the Phantom teams began to offload their captives.

Seph shook in his cradle locks, and one of the Jestas leaned over to smack him upside the head. "Stop your rattling!"

"Let's go," one of the marines coaxed as a stream of handcuffed persons streamed out of the shuttles. Looking down, Seph recognized them as the staffers from the Ming Institute.

"Huh...?" Seph looked at them and his optics flickered as he recognized Tina. 'Tina!' Seph could not believe what was happening. If Tina was here...

True enough, Dr. Lombardi himself exited the shuttle, albeit with two marines training their rifles on him. "Okay! Move it!" the marine snapped.

It was then that Dr. Lombardi looked up. His eyes took on a morose expression as he saw the Unicorn Dracon in the hands of Londo Bell. However, something was off... Despite being in a cradle, the MS was active, with its optics focused on him.

"Dr... Lombardi..." Seph's optics widened a bit, and his very frame began to shake even more. His reactor began to increase its humming in his chest as he tried to stagger back, but couldn't because of the locks.

"What the..." Tina stopped as she saw the Dracon shifting about in its cradle.

Chase's radar lit up as Seph's reactor activity began to pick up. Realizing what it could mean, Chase immediately called, "Seph, stop. Your reactor levels are spiking."

Seph was in a full blown panic now. He was wriggling about, trying to get free to get away from the doctor. "Get... get away from me!" he screamed.

Chase reacted at once. "Seph!" He grasped the shaking, squirming mobile suit by his shoulders. "Calm down!"

Seeing that the Dracon's optics were focusing on something, Chase's main camera zoomed in on the apparent head of the project and his female assistant. 'They must have done this to him...' he thought as he regarded the scientists with anger. "Marines," he ordered as he continued to struggle, "get that man out of here and throw him into the brig, NOW!"

"Move it, Anaheim scum!" The marines ushered Lombardi out and into the hallway, but kept the girl with them. She seemed to have distanced herself from the engineer at the sight of Seph panicking.

Once he was out of the room, Seph seemed to calm down, but his reactor activity was still elevated slightly.

His optics then focused on the woman who was staring at him. She seemed to look on in disbelief at the Dracon, which was being held down by the cradle and the Delta Plus. "Seph?"

"Uh..." Seph was now in an awkward predicament. "Hello?" He slowly waved a hand.

Tina's eyes widened as she realized what was happening. Before she could react though, gunshots erupted from inside the second shuttle, and sounds of struggling ensued from beside the two cockpit modules.

Chase and Seph looked on in shock as two of the PMC pilots from the disabled cockpits shot at the marines trying to restrain them, with another group of similarly dressed PMC pilots to emerge from the shuttle with guns.

"Nuts," Chase realized, "the pilots are armed!"

Seph watched in shock as he recognized his wingmen shooting it out with the Londo Bell marines in the hangar. The staffers scrambled to the sides as gunfire flew about, while the marines and mechanics took cover behind mobile suits or dollies.

"Shots fired in the hangar," one of the marines radioed, "we need reinforcements down here!"

Nigel cursed aloud. "We can't use mobile suit weaponry in here!"

Seph's optics narrowed onto his two best friends, Hunter and Martha, who were hiding behind one of their wrecked cockpits and shooting at the marines.

"No way I'm going to jail like this," Martha yelled.

"Let's highjack their mobile suits," Hunter suggested, as Seph's audio sensors picked them up perfectly.

"Wait! Don't!" Seph blurted.

Martha and Hunter stopped as they were distracted by a familiar voice.

The two looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. "Seph? Is that you?" Martha called as she looked around.

Hunter cast his gaze onto the mobile suits, only to see that the dark purple one has its optics locked into them. "Wait..." His eyes narrowed as the machine then spoke again in a familiar voice.

"Just... don't..." the mobile suit said softly. Both stared in shock at what they heard.

However, the moment was cut short as one of the shuttles lifted off. Being hijacked by the PMC pilots inside, the minigun mounted on the transport began pointing and opening fire. Everyone not in a mobile suit was sent scurrying for cover, including Tina, Hunter, and Martha.

"This just went from bad to worse," Nigel groaned aloud as he shielded himself from a missile fired by the shuttle. With the narrow confines of the ship, there was no way he and Chase could bring down the shuttle themselves without damaging the _Ra Cailum_.

Seph's optics flashed as worry surged through him. "NO!" he cried. He struggled against Chase's Delta and the restrains, feeling his frame reacting to his fear of losing them. Time slowed down in Seph's mind, or rather his processor, as his sensors picked up one of the marines preparing his spare RPG for the rogue shuttle.

"Stop!" he cried, feeling his... psychoframe (was it?) reacting to his terror and fear.

The Gundam lit up a vibrant purple as the cradle started to creak and strain. Chase watched in horror as the Delta Plus' sensors went nuts from the energy readings. "No!"

Seph strained, not even noticing his frame bulking up as his armor shifted and opened to expose the glowing purple psychoframe. His terror at losing his friends drove him to finally break his restrains with the added strength of his psychoframe and he leapt - or more like sort of did a half jump half tumble move - and landed near his wingmen, using his own frame as a shield for them from the explosion he was sure would come.

However, he had no idea that the energy emitted from his frame also shorted out the shuttle's engines.

As the RPG made contact with the purple aura, instead of exploding, the missile completely came apart harmlessly.

People were surprised at the sudden disintegration of the projectile. They started to back away from the Gundam as he uncurled from around his friends.

Nigel and his team were completely floored.

"That's... the Unicorn," Daryl said in disbelief at its power.

Seph was visibly shaking now as he sat there in the middle of the hangar bay.

'What's...what's happening to me?!' he thought as he finally curled into a ball again, drawing his legs close to his chest and burying his head in them.

"He's going critical," one of the mechanics exclaimed.

"You," Chase turned to one of the Jesta guards, "EMP, now!"

The guard closest to Seph reacted and grabbed an EMP from his machine's grenade rack, pressing the timer and rolled it towards the shaking Gundam. Seph heard the beeping and looked down, only to panic as he suddenly got shocked with the grenade. The EMP was just the thing that was needed, as he screamed as the electricity surged through him.

Seph finally blacked out, his psychoframe fading back into dormancy as his armor slid back over it.

"Ugh!" Chase barely put up his shield against the EMP arcs. As soon as the blast faded, he lowered it, though his main camera glitched a little. "Everyone okay?"

The crew all nodded and a few even sounded off. In the middle of the room, Seph lay unconscious. His entire frame sparked a little as electricity danced over the dark colored armor, and behind his back, a pair of draconic wings lay partially unfolded.

"Commander..." Nigel spoke up, "I hate to admit this... but I'm starting to feel we're in over our heads here."

Chase glanced at the unconscious Gundam and frowned. It was clear that he was a potential threat. But at the same time, they couldn't just leave him. Or let him run around in that frame. "I feel you may be right. But we can't let the kid go if he threatens to go nuclear in his panic. So we'll have to tread lightly for now. Try not to do anything that could set him off."

As Chase moved the Delta Plus back towards its cradle, he ordered, "marines, secure the bay and the remaining prisoners. The rest of you get Seph back into a cradle."

"Sir, do you think it's even wise to keep the kid in a cradle? He might panic again," one of the techies pointed out.

Chase mused over this with consternation. True, he could panic, but it was clear that he had little control over his Gundam powers. He sighed, knowing that there was no other alternative.

"Get an OS lock on him," Chase ordered, "disable all of his motor and combat functions except for the main camera and his communications."

"Yes, sir," the techie replied.

"Commander Lee," the controller called, "Captain Bright wants you and Lieutenant Garrett in his office, ASAP."

"Oh... nuts," Chase muttered to himself.

* * *

**Bright's office...**

"You were in charge of the landing operation, AND watching over the Gundam, Commander," Bright said as his stern eyes bore into Chase, and Nigel to a lesser extent.

"I regret the damage that the _Ra Cailum_ incurred, and take full responsibility for this," Chase admitted.

"Now we have to be extra careful because, according to one of the engineers, every time he panics, there's a chance he could destroy the ship when his reactor goes critical." Bright sighed heavily.

"This is a serious situation, Lt. Commander," he said.

"With all due respect," Nigel frowned, "that Seph kid is a walking time bomb waiting to happen."

Bright nodded. "But we can't just let him go. So we have to keep an eye on him. As well as try to keep him calm as much as possible." He directed his attention to Chase. "So, as of right now, Commander, you are to be the one to watch the boy."

Chase frowned at this. "With all due respect," he objected, "my duty here is to lead our MS units into battle. I can't sit around and babysit Seph all day."

Nigel looked at Chase sympathetically.

"If anyone can train him, it's you," Bright countered. "He could also learn a thing or two in combat from you." His eyes hardened. "And maybe even teach him a thing or two about how to stay calm rather than panic during battle conditions."

"Nigel would be better suited for that sort of thing," Chase fended off, "with all due respect, the Delta Plus is not exactly ideal for most standard formations, sir, and I'm have not exactly been a total team player."

Bright saw where he was going. "I do agree. But you are the one who brought him in."

Nigel frowned as he pursed his lips. "Well, I'm not too keen on training some kid who could go nuke."

"Enough, Nigel," Bright shot back. Before going back to Chase. "You're Amuro's best student," he reminded, "and you've followed the closest in his footsteps of all the pilots he's directly mentored."

Chase clenched his teeth behind closed lips. Bright had to bring up the memory of Amuro.

"Like I said. You are the best one suited for the task," Bright continued. He looked over at a picture of Amuro hanging on the wall of his office. "And I know he would want you to do the same he did for you."

Chase took a deep breath. He was not going to lose face. "Amuro was a different case. He was a Newtype, not to mention a veteran of four different wars up to his disappearance..." Chase hated remembering the last war. "I cannot match him for experience and mentorship..."

"True... but I know you can do it." Bright smiled. "And I know he would say something similar."

Chase knew he was not going to convince Bright otherwise. Ever since they first met just less than a year ago, Chase's skills behinds the Delta Plus, and his leadership and wit only impressed the old war veteran, looking for the next ace of aces to lead the way.

"Yes sir," Chase accepted reluctantly, "I'll see to the necessary preparations."

"Good. Now, the first thing you need to do is make sure that Seph is comfortable. And maybe try to get to know him a little," Bright suggested. "The last thing we need is for him to go nuclear on us."

"Yes sir," Chase acknowledged.

"Very well," Bright accepted, "you both are dismissed." As the two pilots saluted and departed, Bright smiled after Chase. 'Yes Amuro,' he thought, 'I know he can do it.'

_**Chapter 3 END** _


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own Gundam Unicorn, Gundam Narrative, or the Gundam franchise. Chase Lee and Johann Revil are among my OCs. Seph Matthews, Tina Hendricks, Dr. Lombardi, and Dr. Ming belong to Titanic X.**

* * *

**September, UC 0097**

**_Ra Cailum_ Mobile Suit Hangar Bay**

Seph's vision began to refocus as he rebooted. 'Ugh... That... was not fun...' he thought as he shook his helmet. As his HUD came online, it was then that he found himself unable to move.

"W...What the heck?!" Seph blurted, trying to move his arms. "Why can't I move?!"

He cast his gaze left and right, seeing he was once again in a mobile suit cradle, and some people weren't looking too thrilled that he was awake and online.

The mere thought made his systems crawl and his reactor started to hum just the tiniest bit louder in his chest.

"Don't bother." Seph turned to see another Jesta standing next to the cradle. "We've put extra restaining bolts on the cradle, and an OS lock to neutralize your motor and weapons systems."

"Oh man..." Seph hung his head. He really hated this. 'What did I do to deserve this?' he thought to himself.

"You're not getting out of this one kid," the Jesta pilot taunted, "and Commander Lee is gonna be so pissed with you!"

"I'm sorry!" the Gundam squeaked, really wanting to bury his head in his hands.

"You'd better be," the guard spat, "your freaking mercenary friends caused a lot of damage to the hangar. You'd all be lucky not to be thrown in solitary for this."

"How was I supposed to know this would happen?!" Seph snapped.

Then suddenly, it all came back. "Wait..." He shot a glare at the Jesta. "Where are my friends?!" he snapped. "I swear if you did anything to harm them..." His optics glowed a threatening violet, but since he couldn't move, that was all he could do.

"Cool your gaskets," the Jesta pilot raised his beam rifle, "luckily for you, we did not kill any of them. The captain did throw them into the brig in cuffs just in case though."

Seph squeaked at the sight of the rifle aimed at his chest. He tried to cower away, but all he could do was turn his head away. "C-Can you please not point that thing at me?!" he whimpered.

"That is enough soldier," a commanding voice rang out as a Chinese-looking man emerged into the hangar, "I will have no itchy trigger fingers in here."

The Jesta pilot looked at the officer, before mumbling out, "apologies, Commander Lee, sir..."

Seph winced in his thoughts.

Chase looked up at the sentient Gundam. "So... you calmed down already?"

Seph nodded, but he felt very uncomfortable. "Yeah. But how can anyone stand this?" he asked, trying to move one of his arms.

"I know it is uncomfortable, but don't think too much about it," Chase advised, "besides, Captain Bright is already a bit ticked that you wrecked parts of the hangar."

"Yeah? Well, try having to deal with something pressing into your back..." Seph grumbled. He jerked his head at the objects on his back.

"There's a lot worse that could happen," Chase pointed out, "I for one wouldn't want to imagine having a hole burned through my chest with a beam rifle."

Seph twitched his head a bit, as if he winced. "Yeah. Especially since well..." He jerked his head again. "Given well, my... situation."

He tried to flex an arm. "Man... why'd you have to immobilize me?" he asked.

"What do you expect, after that last performance?" Chase shook his head. "HQ will be grilling our captain over this matter, and it's no good for any of us, especially you and your friends if you keep messing things up."

Seph looked down, his optics glowing a bit behind his visor. "Sorry..." he muttered. "I just... I just panicked..."

Chase pursed his lips. "You're a pilot, right," he asked, "if your employers were able to let you near an MS, you should know that panicking under pressure is what gets many pilots killed. If anything, a panicking MS pilot is more dangerous to his wingmen than the enemy."

Seph nodded. "Yeah... But how was I supposed to know what would happen?" he asked. "... Uh... what exactly happened, anyway?" He tilted his head as he asked. "It's all kinda blurry to me."

Chase was now befuddled. Nevertheless, he kept his composure. "You really have no idea?"

The Gundam shook his helm. "No. All I can recall was wanting to protect my friends and then... just..." He bowed his head as he wracked his new processor for the relevant memory files. "Just seeing them getting attacked and hearing screams. That's all."

Chase then debated with himself whether to tell Seph what really happened. Given the amount of power he now possessed in this Unicorn Gundam, codenamed Dracon, it was dangerous to get him on the wrong track. The ship had nearly been destroyed because of this.

On one hand, he did deserve to know. It could possibly help him in learning to control that power, or he could freak out again. And he seemed to be a good kid. He was in no way a psycho, if his reactions were any indication. If anything, it was highly he was just a kid who got involved in something beyond what he had expected, and therefore was reacting out of terror and shock at being placed into a powerful machine like the Dracon.

But there was also the chance he could be pulling an act on them. It was hard to gauge a Gundam's body language.

"Sir," Seph questioned.

"It's nothing," Chase quickly excused. He took a different tact. "Look, once we get to the Moon," he said, "we can begin to sort this whole thing out with you and your team. How you can help your comrades is to cooperate with us and allow Bright to do what he has to do. Right now, he is what's standing between you and the rest of the Federation brass that would like to see you dismantled."

Seph froze. "Y-You're kidding!" he squeaked.

"Technically, the Gundam is illegal due to it's frame incorporating psycho-technology," Chase pointed out, "Captain Bright is already being stretched to keep this incident under the radar as much as possible. We may have gotten off on a bad footing, but right now, we are the only people capable of protecting you."

The Gundam looked down at his left hand, unable to flex it. His reactor began to hum louder in his chest at the thought of being dismantled. He started to shake slightly.

* * *

**Ming Institute, Lunar Surface**

Within his office, Dr. Ming was sitting in front of the windows overlooking the city.

"You're telling me that the Phenex was defending you?" He was questioning the pilot whom he had sent to initially track the mentioned Gundam.

"Yes," Antares replied.

Dr. Ming hummed in contemplation over this behavior. 'Rita Bernal...' he thought of the name of the pilot who was last seen with the Phenex.

He knew that she had gone missing a couple years ago, close to a year and a half, really. Her sudden disappearance along with the Phenex had made enough people worried to the point they black boxed the whole operation, scrubbing it from all records, save for the memories of those involved. There had been no sign of it since.

At least until now.

"I'm sorry, Doctor," the pilot said in resignation, "I let my guard down and lost the target because of that."

"No. It's quite all right. At least we have confirmation of the Phenex's return," the old engineer replied gently. "In fact, it's provided us with more insight into what has been happening ever since its disappearance."

"Doctor?" Antares was now curious.

"Ever since its disappearance, there have been... others... who have sought that power for themselves," Dr. Ming explained.

"You mean Zeon and the Federation," Antares surmised.

"Them, as well as others," Dr. Ming clarified.

"Who are they," Antares asked, "Anaheim... the Vist Foundation?"

Dr. Ming was silent. "It is best that that comes out when the time is right," he said seriously.

"So... what is next?" Antares questioned.

Dr. Ming looked up. "We keep tabs on those Jestas you saw," he explained. "The ones with the unknown emblem. If they show up again, we must be informed."

"But how will I know where to track them," Antares asked again, "they were the ones who tracked me down first. If not for that golden wings, I would have been fried."

Dr. Ming had no answer. He silently pondered the question. In truth, even he was baffled. How could anyone have tracked down his institute's mobile suits? The only thing he could think of was the Noblesse, and he was not willing to share his theories on them with anyone outside his inner circle yet.

So he said the only thing he could.

"As a matter of fact, I might give you a new assignment," Dr. Ming said. With a pause, it was then that he dropped it, "it's concerning the Ra Cailum."

Antares was surprised. "Sir?"

"I need you to monitor the ship," the old doctor said, "it's captured a Gundam that belongs to this institute. The pilot who made the capture is someone I believe you know."

Antares' eyes widened. "Crux?" Then he chuckled. "Oh, yeah. I remember him, the crazy lunatic. He and I were wingmen."

Dr. Ming nodded.

"I'm about to have a friend of mine talk to Captain Bright onboard the ship when they make port here on the Moon," Ming continued, "I just want you to watch it so I know that it will arrive safely. I also need you to intercept any radio traffic you can from the ship's encrypted coms channel, so we can ascertain what happened with the MS and the test staff."

"Understood, sir," Antares replied.

"As always, thanks for your services," Ming acknowledged, "just be careful out there."

Antares nodded. "Yes, sir. Thank you."

With that, Dr. Ming gave a nod to Antares, allowing the pilot to leave.

As soon as he left, Dr. Ming tented his fingers as he pondered the Dracon pilot's situation.

'Who are you, Pilot of the Dragon...' the engineer thought.

* * *

**Luio & Company, New Hong Kong**

Michele looked outside her personal office into the night sky.

She pondered the recent events with the mysterious golden mobile suit, recalling the little girl who had once been her friend.

'So you've come back...' Michele mused. Her eyes flicked to where Brick stood off to the side.

"He will be arriving from the California Base tomorrow morning," Brick said with a bow.

"Good," Michelle replied.

"Still," Brick said without breaking composure, "but are you sure he's up to the task?"

Michelle was silent for a moment. She knew that he still had feelings for the girl, and those very feelings were going to be her tool to find the golden mobile suit. She nodded. "Yes," she said.

Brick's expression still did not shift as he continued. "You know that he still probably has not forgiven you for all those years ago," he pointed out, "and still less enthused that you are taking him from his family for this quest."

Michelle was silent as she contemplated what to say. She knew that Brick was right. But this, hopefully, would be enough to help her earn his forgiveness. "I am well aware. But it is necessary for him to be here so we can capture the Phenex."

"Understood," Brick bowed.

Michelle turned back to look out the window at the Moon, her eyes narrowed. "Rita..."

* * *

** The next morning... **

The Luio & Company chauffeur sent by Michelle held a sign out for his intended passenger along with other people and taxi drivers awaiting the arrivals.

True enough, a certain redhead man came out of the airport entrance. He looked around, spotting the sign. Seeing that the young man was waving to him, the chauffeur lowered his sign. He wordlessly opened the trunk for his passenger to put his light luggage in. The chauffeur then helped the redhead in, got into his driver's seat, and drove off.

The man shifted in his seat as he looked out the window.

To Jona Basta, this was only the next thing in a long list of issues he had going on right now.

"I hope your flight was not too inconvenient, Ensign Basta," the chauffeur greeted.

Jona just shook his head. "I'm on loan from General Staff HQ," he pointed out, "they could care less about inconvenience." Internally, however, he would sooner be back with his adopted folks or fighting Zeon remnants, than to be here. He only watched as the scenery passed by the limo. He wondered why he was even here, to begin with. Sure, things had looked up after Dr. Ming got him into a family that was willing to adopt him, but things were still a bit... tense, one could say. Especially since Michelle had done only what suited her best, and not the other two. In fact, he had to thank Dr. Ming more than anyone else at this point.

"We're here, Ensign," the driver said as they pulled up to the building.

Jona looked out at the building and his eyes narrowed. 'Michelle...' he thought.

The chauffeur helped Jona out with his baggage, and the two entered the lobby.

"Ensign, wait here," the chauffeur said.

Jona was left alone in the lobby with security and other people conducting business. Seeing that there was nothing else at the moment, he went over to one of the couches with his suitcase and sat down. As he laid back, he contemplated his being there.

Michelle had the gall to even call him here, and he had no idea why. He pursed his lips as he held the small shard of his father's pendent in his hand, looking at it. Memories of Rita came into his mind and he clenched his hand around it.

'You don't deserve that other piece, Michelle,' Jona thought.

Some small part of him wanted to just take it from her next time he saw her, but no doubt she didn't have it on her. Not since she had become a part of the upper rung of society.

It was then that a silver haired man about Jona's age came up to him, sporting his dark blue suit and spectacles.

"Ensign Jona. Lady Michelle wishes to speak to you," he said.

Jona stood up and nodded wordlessly. Picking up his suitcase, Jona followed the man closely. 'Here we go, Jona,' he thought to himself.

The two made their way through the building of Luo and Co. until they reached the main office.

"Miss Michelle," the silver-haired aide addressed.

Jona saw as the person sitting in her seat at her desk swiveled around. His expression deadpanned as he recognized that feminine, sly face. "Michelle..." he muttered.

"Jona Basta," Michelle greeted in a rather aloof tone. Jona clenched his fist at that. She then turned to Brick and prompted him to leave her and Jona alone. Brick turned and left the room dutifully.

"Welcome back, Jona," Michelle greeted, "I see you're doing well for yourself."

"As well as can be," Jona replied stiffly.

Michelle exhaled as she kept her neutral composure. She then pointed at the seat in front of her desk. "Sit down, please."

Jona hesitated, but obeyed regardless. As Jona sat down, it was then that Michelle decided to pour some tea. She offered a cup to him. The ensign reached out and took it. "..." He was silent as he took a small sip. Michelle sipped on her own tea as well, as she looked over the files in her hand.

"...Why did you call me here?" Jona asked seriously.

Michelle looked back up at Jona. "You're on loan from Staff HQ, because we've been hired to provide support and expertise on handling a troublesome target," Michelle explained. She handed him the file she was reading.

Jona picked up the file, and saw that it was a golden Unicorn Gundam, the Phenex. The Gundam had a strange blue aura about it as it flew through space in the image.

His eyes widened. "What...?"

"The Phenex went missing during a test flight about two years ago, engaging Neo Zeon forces," Michelle went on, "it went out of control from a psychoframe resonance, and destroyed its mothership before fleeing. For whatever reason, it has now come back."

"The Phenex..." Jona's eyes locked onto the image before narrowing a bit. "..."

Michele took another sip of her tea. She then said, "the Federation wants us to help capture the Phenex. Given that psychoframe technology is illegal, they are unable to deploy psychoframe MS in official capacity. However..."

Jona looked up at those words. "Hm?"

"Given that Luio & Co. are officially a trading company," Michelle said as she clicked on her computer, "we have plenty of backdoors for our little op..."

"Backdoors?" Jona raised an eyebrow.

Michelle nodded. "Yes." She clicked a few more times before she smiled. "Back doors that can work in our favor."

"Such as this..." Michele turned the monitor, revealing the specs and diagram of a mobile suit: RX-9. Jona's eyes went wide at the image. "That... That's..."

"RX-9 Narrative Gundam," Michele said, "a prototype of the Nu Gundam the Federation handed to us after the final test flights to be dismantled. However, now that the Phenex is back, they want us to modify it for the mission to capture it."

She looked into Jona's eyes. "And you are to pilot it."

Jona was surprised. All he could do was gape before he regained himself.

"However..." the shrewd businesswoman added, "we are still missing pieces of the puzzle to begin tracking doen the Phenex. That is all the more reason why we are getting involved.

Jona was silent as he pondered her words. "So, our next course is to find the rest of the pieces, am I right?" he asked.

"Precisely," Michele nodded. Jona had been expecting this, but at the same time, he wondered what else she had planned. From what he remembered, she always had some kind of a plan in place.

"Anyways," Michele said, "I will fill you in on further details regarding the phases of our operation. You must be tired from the long travel here." She then tapped on her intercom. Jona hated to admit it, but he was tired. He nodded.

It was then that Michele's aide, Brick came back in. "Lady Michelle..." he said. "Show Jona his room," Michele instructed, "and do make him comfortable and welcome. He is an old friend after all." She then unexpectedly gave a hint of a smile.

Jona blinked, but then returned to his serious expression as Brick gestured for him to follow.

"Oh and Jona," Michele said just before the ensign reached the door.

Jona looked back. "Hm?"

Michele took on a rather friendly, if rather solemn tone "I know you haven't been replying to my email messages... but I am glad to see you again."

Jona turned away with a slight scowl. As he left, he only wondered just what her motive for capturing the Phenex really was.

* * *

**_Ra Cailum_ , Interrogation Room**

Chase frowned as he stood looking at the man before him. He read Dr. Lombardi up and down with his eyes. He could make out his shy and fearful body language, his refusal to make eye contact, and just a meekness to his breath and voice. Sure, he did not intend for the doctor to wither under his gaze, but saying that he was not disgusted would have been a lie.

Nigel stood off to the side, observing the whole thing and ready for his end of the routine.

"So run it by me again. You say that there was no issue with the testing, and then a virus found its way into the system and caused a malfunction, is that right?" Chase asked.

"That is right..." Dr. Lombardi managed, "that is the truth.

"Do you even realize just what kind of power that machine has?!" Chase demanded, slamming his hands down on the table in between the two men. "Especially seeing as how every time he panics, he threatens to go nuclear on us!"

Lombardi recoiled from the commander's reaction. Chase continued, "do you even realize how much danger you put the rest of Side 7 in? What if he lost control of the Gundam and it went on a rampage with the nearby colonies!?"

Lombardi was horrified at the implications. His face actually paled and he looked a bit sick.

"You're in deep soup, now," Nigel remarked rather snidely, "you know what could happen if this is all reported in full to headquarters."

The man shivered in his chair. "I...I had no idea..." he whispered. "...if what it truly was..."

"Well get a reality check," Chase retorted, "because this is a very serious crime involving illegal weapons development and human experimentation. You've endangered the life of the pilot as well as civilians and our own military's pilots in pursuit of the Dracon. Londo Bell does not take human rights violations and unethical experiments lightly."

For once, Lombardi looked like he was going to break down. "At least... tell me... is the boy okay?"

Chase was miffed. "He will be, if you can reverse what you people did to him," he spat.

Lombardi looked down at his hands in his lap, feeling a bit nervous. "Well... in theory it is possible... but we need to examine the equipment we used and try to isolate the virus... and reverse the damage it caused to the program..."

"How long?" Chase leaned in, his glare meeting the doctor's eyes.

"The... The program was heavily damaged by the virus... until I can get a good idea of the extent, it could take..." Lombardi gulped. "Three to four years... at a best guess..."

The Delta Plus pilot kept his composure, but his eyes burned with the indignity of Seph's situation. Nigel saw this and looked to Lombardi. "Something tells me that you'll have to work faster than that," Nigel said.

"I did say it was a guess!" he exclaimed. "For all we know it could take less time, depending on the extent of the damage!"

Chase backed away from the doctor. He was still calm, yet he gave off a withering aura. "Well better get started, doctor," Chase said with coldness, "because if anything else happens to that pilot... I'll recommend the firing squad in a court-martial."

Lombardi nodded. "Y-Yes... Right away!" he stammered.

"If you manage this, then maybe we'll go a bit easier on you," Nigel said to the scared engineer.

"Well he'd better," Chase glanced at his good cop partner, "because it's him and his crew that will also be on the line if they screw up."

Nigel nodded. "Something tells me he will. Right?"

Lombardi nodded. "Yes. I will!" he exclaimed.

Chase looked back and forth between Nigel and Lombardi, still being the bad cop in this scenario. "Well then... don't waste time here," he urged Lombardi, "your daylight is burning."

He then went over to the door and opened it. One of the guards came in at Chase's prompting. "Get this man and his team working on the Gundam," he ordered, "and watch them closely."

"As long as he stays away from Seph. Remember the kid panicked," Nigel reminded Chase.

"Of course I remember that," Chase shot back, continuing the routine. He then turned back towards the doctor. "We'll be watching you, so consider this your warning..." The man nodded as he was ushered out of the interrogation room.

"Ugh..." Chase said, now a little exhausted.

"Better hope the kid doesn't panic again. Even if he is immobile," Nigel remarked. Then he looked to Chase. "You okay, Commander?"

"Maybe I went further than I should have," Chase admitted, "I was venting."

"I can't blame you," Nigel commented. "In all honesty, I just hope that he _does_ find a way to return the kid to normal. This whole thing gives me the willies." He shuddered at the thought of what the poor boy was going through.

"Speaking of which, when it comes to Anaheim, what are we gonna do with the kid? We can't have him in plain sight if they choose to come aboard..." he pointed out.

Chase grimaced at the thought of Anaheim. In all frankness, he distrusted them greatly with their spurious record of selective morality and aiding both sides of various conflicts for their own profit. It also did not help that they had a reputation for not caring much for the pilots of their pet projects gone awry, Newtypes least of all. It really would not do well to have them monkeying around the Dracon.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," Chase simply replied.

"Better hope we can figure something out and soon..." Nigel muttered.

In all honesty, he was worried for the boy.

"May God help the boy indeed..." Chase thought aloud.

* * *

Hunter shifted as he sat in the cell. "Man... This bites..."

Martha on the other hand, was silent, but no less steamed about the situation.

"You thinking about what happened back in the hangar?" Hunter asked her.

Martha remained silent.

"Come on," Hunter groaned, "what the heck was that, Martha?"

"That... was the Unicorn Dracon..." Tina remarked. "Or... Seph, actually." She and her fellow Ming Institute staffers were being held in their respective cells next to or across one another, along with other members of Seph's PMC squad. The cramped spaces of the cells and their proximity to one another was enough to make most people claustrophobic.

It was then that Martha snapped. She banged on her cell bars as she raged at Tina. "What did you do to him, witch!?"

"It wasn't my fault!" Tina protested. "There was a computer virus that caused a backflow of the system he was using to control the mobile suit! That was what caused his condition to begin with!"

"You labcoat scum," Martha continued yelling, "I oughta strangle you and every single one of your crew!"

"I keep telling you, it wasn't our fault! Someone sabotaged the project!" Tina repeated.

"Shut up," Hunter said in annoyance, "that is what you Anaheim suits always say when your pet projects go wrong." He ran his fingers through his hair. "Thanks to you guys, we're all under the Fed's thumb. Think of what they'll do to the rest of my team."

"..." Tina was silent as she looked down. "Actually, I'd like to apologize for putting you in this situation... had I known about the Dracon's true identity... then maybe we may not be in this situation..." she muttered.

"Yeah right," Martha snarked, "the good your apology will do!"

"It's your fault, Hendricks!"

"I never signed up for this!"

"I'm gonna sue!"

It was then that the guard posted to the brig suddenly came up with his baton and hit the bars loudly, causing the prisoners to recoil from the clanging. "Shut up, all of you!" The group all winced, and Tina looked like she was about to cry. Unfortunately for her, the bickering and tension made the guard quite irritable. "That goes for you too," the guard barked at her as he brandished his rifle. She buried her head in her hands and began to quietly weep.

"That's enough," a voice sounded.

Everyone turned to see Commander Lee with another guard. The group all looked up, wariness on their faces.

"Sir," the guard snapped to attention.

Chase looked him up and down. "Rough shift?"

The guard grunted as he rubbed his helmet. "Kind of," the guard admitted.

Chase walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Break time," he prompted, "your relief's here."

The man nodded as he left. "Right. Thanks." After the guard left, Chase turned his attention to the prisoners. He was looking for one in particular. "Which of you is Tina Hendricks?"

"I... I am..." Tina sniffled.

Chase saw her weeping in her cell. With a nod, he prompted the new guard to come with the keys. The guard stepped forward and handed them to Chase wordlessly.

The group was baffled. What was up with him?

"What's with him?" someone muttered.

"How should I know?" another person hissed.

"We're going to need your help, Hendricks," Chase indicated as he played with the key.

"Right..." Tina whispered as she got to her feet, rubbing at her eyes to remove the tears.

"You do know why I'm here," Chase went on.

"Yes..." Tina muttered. "About... About Seph..."

"You and Lombardi are responsible for the Unicorn Dracon," Chase said, "and that Gundam is the reason why you are all here."

Tina looked down. "We had no idea..." she whispered.

"Well, now what is going to happen next going forward could very well decide your fate as well as the rest of the prisoners here," Chase said, "as much as I hate to say this... but you, Lombardi, and I are going to have to work together."

"Why...? After what happened to Seph, I'm not too sure," Tina said seriously. "And speaking of which, how is he? I mean, how IS he? Not in terms of physical condition but..."

Chase's expression softened somewhat, upon seeing the girl take interest in Seph's health. "He's under lock in the hangar bay. We couldn't have him wrecking our bay, but he seems to be calm at the moment."

"Thank God... I was worried about him..." Tina whispered softly, a light blush dusting her cheeks. Then she looked to Chase. "Can I see him, at least? Seph, I mean."

"Why not?" Chase then actually smiled a bit as he inserted and twisted the key to the cell door.

"Hey! Why does she get to go?!" Hunter blurted.

"Yeah! Seph's our friend too!" Martha shot back.

A few others protested as well.

"She's responsible for this!"

"Keep her locked in here!"

"She doesn't deserve this!"

"Quiet, all of you," Chase shot back, "none of you are at liberty at this time!" The group fell silent as Tina scurried out of the cage, feeling immense relief. "Now remember," Chase reminded, "you and Lombardi are only at liberty upon the condition that you reverse whatever happened with Seph. We will still have you both supervised and under guard, and under no circumstances is contact outside the _Ra Cailum_ permitted."

"Trust me. I'm more concerned for Seph's mental health at this rate," Tina remarked as she followed him out of the brig to the hangar bay. "I mean... what I was - no am - concerned about is how this will affect him mentally. I mean, that machine is a fully operational Unicorn, and well... given how he has little control over the psychoframe, I'm worried about what he'll do when he does gain control of it..."

"The sooner we get him out the Dracon the better," Chase said as he escorted Tina, "I'm more worried about him being scrapped with the rest of the psychoframe. HQ will no doubt order it."

"But what if we can't?" Tina asked. "I mean... the program, from what I saw, is trashed. And it took us months to write it."

Chase frowned. "Neither you nor Seph have that much time," he said, "Bright will try to buy some time, but we don't know how much."

"How much are you thinking we have?" Tina asked in worry.

Chase just glumly answered, "not luxurious enough."

* * *

**_Ra Cailum_ Hangar Bay**

Chase and Tina arrived into the hangar bay. As soon as the doors slid open, Tina was surprised to see Seph was locked in a cradle. He turned his helm to look and he saw Chase with Tina beside him.

A strange feeling filled Seph's chest and he gulped a bit nervously.

"You recognize this woman, Seph," Chase spoke up.

"Y-Yes," he said softly. "She was with me when... well..." He looked away, wishing he could shrug, but since all his movement systems were locked up, all he could do was move his head.

"Seph? That is you... right?" Tina asked.

The Gundam slowly looked to her and gave a tiny nod with a small whine emitting from the back of his throat. In all honesty, he was terrified. What if Chase ordered her to start dismantling him?

"I-it's me," Seph replied reluctantly.

"So... you really are the Dracon then..." Tina murmured. "I... I'm so... so sorry this happened to you..."

Chase was off to the side discussing something with the hangar chief. He then motioned to Tina to join him.

Tina wandered over, keeping a concerned gaze on Seph out of the corner of her eye.

Seph could barely hear what the three were saying as they talked softly amongst themselves. He tried to listen in closer by tilting his head in their direction. But no such luck. 'Darn! If only I could hear better!' the Gundam thought.

It was then that he heard a whining noise in his head.

"... and you will be responsible for basic maintenance to the mobile suit while she and Lombardi do their job," Seph heard Chase say to the chief.

'What the heck?!" Seph was surprised. How had he been able to hear that? And what was that whining he had heard?

"Commander, are you sure about this," the chief said in an uncertain tone.

"Yes," Chase replied. "I know it seems awkward, but this is the only way."

Tina shot a glance back at Seph as he squeaked and turned his head away, though he still listened in.

"Um, sir... just so you know, we may need more time than we have to try and recreate or repair the damage to the program that led to his circumstances," Tina said. "I mean, last time we had worked on it for months. And we need as much time as possible to try and reverse this."

"We'll make it work," Chase said rather firmly, "Seph's life depends on this."

"Thanks..." Tina whispered.

Seph tilted his helm a bit more, a questioning hum coming from his chest. What were they talking about?

The chief then addressed Chase. "What about allowing him some freedom of movement?" he asked. "I mean, we can't have him cause more damage than he already did..."

Seph blushed deeply beneath his visor at this and averted his gaze.

"As it stands, he will remain under OS lock as is standard procedure for all mobile suits," Chase said. He paused for a bit, then added, "however, with the rumors of yet another runaway MS running about, that could change."

"Huh?" Now Seph was confused. "Another runaway mobile suit?" He directed his question at Chase.

The three looked up at Seph. The chief looked both surprised and annoyed. "Hey, you may have enhanced audio reception," the chief shot back, "but it ain't nice to eavesdrop."

"Hey! How was I supposed to know?!" Seph grumped. He turned his head away, really regretting asking.

Chase glared at the mechanic for his response. "It's alright," Seph reassured, "Captain Bright authorized me to share this with other pilots aboard this ship. Given the nature of this potential threat, it may require us to use the Dracon in an emergency."

"Huh?" Seph looked down. "Y-You mean... combat?" He began to shake a bit, despite being immobile. "B-But what if I lose it?!" he whimpered.

"Like I said," Chase answered, "it's going to be an emergency. In the meantime, while Lombardi and Tina here work on extracting you from the Gundam, the captain has authorized me to train you in the event that we encounter this enemy."

"Uh... Okay..." Seph murmured. "And um... I can't exactly move right now..."

"Like I said," Chase reminded, "we will follow standard procedures for all mobile suits... and now that we've captured the Dracon, it is technically under Londo Bell jurisdiction."

Seph nodded. "Okay..." he said hesitantly. He really wanted to shift around; his servos and joints were starting to ache a bit. He moved his head around, trying to alleviate the aching building in his shoulders. "Sheesh! Do mobile suits usually get cramps?"

"No they don't kid," the chief retorted. He was honestly tiring of the whining and complaining.

Seph wisely kept his vocalizer muted, but he couldn't help but whine a little in the back of his throat. He really wanted to move so badly!

"Hey Tina," Chase turned to her, "maybe you could do a favor for Seph."

"Huh? What do you want me to do?" Tina asked.

"Maybe try and do something about his apparent sensitivity levels," Chase nodded towards the chief, "before he drives the crew mad."

"I...I'll see what I can do," Tina said hesitantly. She looked back at the Gundam who was now trying to move his arms. Chase turned towards the door, leaving Tina with both the irritated chief and Seph.

Tina walked over to Seph, looking up at him uneasily. "Um... so... you feel achy?" she asked.

"Yeah," Seph grunted, "but everytime I request some relief, I'm being told to shut or threatened with being shut off or shot."

"I see. Well, I'll see what I can do to help alleviate that," Tina said as she began to make her way up to the catwalks. "So, where does it ache the worst?"

Seph grunted as the aching feeling hit again. He tried to wiggle, but his body refused to move due to the OS lock. "The wings," Seph pointed out, "my wings are aching!"

Tina scrambled up the catwalks to the Gundam's back. She peeked closely at his wings. "Seems like they're folded a bit too tight due to the cradle," she remarked. "That could be the problem."

"We had to make the Gundam fit into the thing," the chief pointed out, "we only have so much space in here."

"Well, maybe you should at least try to make some extra room, or at least give him some space to spread his wings a bit," Tina suggested.

"You sure," the chief said with a slight frown.

"Yes," Tina said.

* * *

As this went on, Chase went up to the hangar observation tower. As he entered, he found Bright observing the whole exchange in front of the Dracon.

"Commander Lee," Bright said without looking. "How's the kid?"

"Seems to have calmed down somewhat," Chase replied, "at least he's not going nuclear on us."

"Good." Bright said. "I want you to begin his training as soon as possible in the event we need his power."

"Even though the psychoframe is illegal, and there are so many unknowns?" Chase shrugged as he felt a little itchy in his collar all of a sudden. "I don't like this case one bit."

Bright nodded. "If that runaway psychomachine is dangerous, we may need his power. I may agree with you that this is a big unknown and risk, but we may have no choice."

Chase came up alongside Bright as the two officers continued to watch as Tina advised the crew, who begrudgingly serviced Seph in his cradle. "You know," the Delta Plus pilot said, "Amuro once taught me that what for every inconsistency we see in a story, there is often a much bigger story behind it. For one, we at Londo Bell were told that the Dracon was being piloted by a psychopath going on a killing spree, and now look at what's happened to this kid. And yes, his team did shoot at us, but now we are seeing that they know even less of what is going on than we thought."

Chase then narrowed his gaze. "Then there is the issue of Dr. Lombardi. I may have been harsh on him before, but even now I'm starting to see that he himself is a pawn in a much bigger game than I imagined. With the rumors of another runaway psychomachine going around at the same time, it's all too much to be coincidence."

"That could very well be the case," Bright surmises. "And that is all the more reason we have to protect the kid."

"And his wingmen?" Chase glanced sideways at the captain. "You know some of their backgrounds came back with red flags as former Zeon soldiers."

Bright narrowed his eyes. "Keep an eye on them. If his wingmen prove they are willing to work with us, then... we'll let them go."

"But you also know what is happening out there, after the Laplace Declaration," Chase pointed out in a contemplative tone.

"Yes. I am aware," Bright noted. He watched with a contemplative look in his eyes as the mechanics finally gave Seph a bit more wiggle room in the cradle, his wings becoming looser against his back. "Aw, yes," Seph was heard through the microphone, "that's much better!"

Bright chuckled a bit in amusement at that. However, Chase continued to muse over Seph's situation, and what the Ra Cailum could possibly get into next. 'Amuro... what would you do...' The commander frowned. "Sir, may I ask when I will start training him?"

"Technically, the Dracon is under our jurisdiction," Bright said, "but as there is no designated pilot from Londo Bell, HQ has forbidden its deployment by any other pilot. Since I haven't told them of Matthew's situation in full, there's only so much that can be done at the moment."

"That sucks," Chase groaned, "so what then?"

The One Year War veteran frowned slightly. "We wait for now..." Bright muttered before silence fell between the two.

* * *

** A week later... **   
** Von Braun, Lunar Surface **

Dr. Ming stood in his office, looking over the information he was preparing for Colonel Revil. "Once I transmit this to Joseph," he muttered to himself, "this will cast the die." He shifted before he looked it over one last time. "This is our last chance... or else all is lost..."

His computer buzzed as he got an email. The old engineer opened it. "The old carriage and its driver have trotted up to town," the email read, "ready for delivery." The engineer smiled. "I knew I could count on you, Joseph," he said as he compiled the files.

He finished his work and sent the files.

* * *

**Von Braun EFF Lunar HQ**

Revil stood before his desk as he observed the email. Fortunately for him, having the scrambled address set up between him and Ming meant that he could use his custom touchpad secure from the Federation monitoring system for electronic communications.

He looked over the files, a serious look on his face. 'This is it,' he thought silently to himself, 'everything the Noblesse wanted to hide.'

It was then that the government laptop on his desk beeped. Colonel Revil looked at the device, but let it continue beeping as his secret pad fully downloaded the data. He waited for a few minutes before it finished. With the download done, Joseph quickly tucked it away into its secret sleeve. He then turned to his government laptop and answered the call. "Colonel Revil here."

"Sir, the _Ra Cailum_ is on approach," the soldier said, "they are requesting permission to dock."

"Permission granted," Revil replied, "inform them that I also wish to personally welcome Captain Bright."

"Yes, sir," the soldier responded.

When the transmission cut, Revil rose from his seat and donned his officer's hat. It was time to meet the much vaunted captain his father admired. And maybe he could see this new machine they had captured as well...

* * *

**_Ra Cailum_ Bridge**

Bright stood in the middle of the bridge, observing as the ship came in to dock.

"Welcome to Von Braun Base, _Ra Cailum_ ," the controller greeted.

"Glad to be here," Bright responded.

"Our new base commander wishes to personally greet you and your crew," the controller notified, "he will be awaiting you and your staff in the terminal."

Bright nodded. "We'll be there to meet him, thank you."

The comm shut down and Bright turned to look out at the docks as they came into view.

"So what's the plan, sir," Chase asked as he was present on the bridge with Bright and Meran.

"As soon as we dock, we're to let in our guest," Bright explained. "And if he asks about the kid, we say nothing."

(What is the extent of Ming and Revil's knowledge of Seph inside the Dracon? :3)

"Right," Chase said in a none-too-enthusiastic tone, "and Anaheim, or this Ming Institute we found out about back on Side 7?"

"We'll deal with them as well," Bright said.

Chase hummed to suppress a bit of a groan. However, he did manage to ask, "want me to have Nigel's team and our marines at the ready, just in case? Knowing what guys like Anaheim and the Vist Foundation are capable of, I don't think I would be overly cautious in saying that we should be prepared."

"Right," Bright acknowledged. "Dispatch our Phantom Teams to Anaheim, but have Nigel and his team remain aboard on standby," he ordered, "and remember, keep it quiet."

"You got it, sir," Chase affirmed.

"And I want you to start training Seph soon," Bright added. "Even if it is in just the confines of the hangar bay."

"Sure, though we'll have to be discreet," Chase pointed out.

"And we can do that," Bright said. "Just try to not make a racket."

"We just need a convincing enough alibi," Chase suggested, "including for our guys going to Anaheim and Ming."

Bright nodded. "Yes. So, I'll handle the alibi. You get Seph hooked up to a virtual simulator. His training begins now."

"Understood sir, Godspeed," with a salute, the Delta Plus commander was off.

Straightening his uniform, Bright steeled himself. 'Here we go.'

* * *

Bright walked down the hallway towards the disembarkation ramp, with Meran in escort. As they walked up to the disembarkation ramp, they were greeted by another soldier saluting them. "Welcome to Von Braun, Captain Bright."

"Thank you," Bright said.

"Our base commander is waiting for you," the soldier informed, "he's been wanting to meet you for a long time."

"Hmmm..." Bright raised an eyebrow and was curious. Who was it that wanted to meet him? The soldier escorted him and Meran towards the terminal, where a trio of officers awaited.

The first man in the middle was at least thirty years old, and Bright pegged him as being about mid thirties, with a lean build and he had a scar on his right cheek. His brown, almost bronze colored, hair was cut short and his dark brown eyes clearly held the air of an experienced soldier in them. It was then that the officer smiled upon seeing Bright. "Captain Bright at last," he greeted, "I've been waiting for you."

"Who are you?" Bright asked, a bit surprised, but not that surprised he was known of. He did have a bit of a reputation, amongst the Gundam pilots, that is.

"Oh yes," the garrison commander chuckled in remembrance, "this is your first ever time meeting me, and I've only commanded this base for over two years now." He continued to smile at Bright. "I'm sure you're quite familiar with my famed late father, the commander-in-chief of the Earth Federation Forces of the One Year War."

Bright's eyes widened. "Wait... You're the son of General Revil?" he asked.

The commander nodded as he extended his hand. "Colonel Joseph Revil, commander of Von Braun Base," he introduced himself.

"Pleasure to meet you," Bright said, grasping his hand and shaking it.

"It's an honor to meet the White Base captain my father told me so much about," Joseph curtsied, "he had nothing but praise and admiration for you and Amuro Ray."

Bright nodded. "Yes. Amuro was one of the best pilots I had under my command. And I can only hope that others will follow in his example," he said, vaguely referring to the sentient Gundam currently locked in a cradle aboard his ship.

Joseph nodded, "and now you have one of his pupils aboard this very vessel. Commander Chase Lee, I believe he is."

Bright smiled. "That I do. And he has his own protégé, you could say," he remarked with a nod.

"So soon?" Joseph looked quizzical for a bit before his expression brightened again. "Speaking of protege... where is the commander?"

"In the hangar bay," Bright responded.

"Rather curious that he's not out here accompanying you," Joseph feigned ignorance, but knowing from Dr. Ming that the Ra Cailum was carrying the Dracon, he had a feeling that Chase was examining the Dracon.

"Yes, well, his protégé is kind of nervous, so he's helping train him in the event we need his mobile suit out on the battlefield," Bright remarked.

"I see..." Joseph mused. It was then that he looked back at Bright, "given the rumors of a runaway psychomachine, we'll need every advantage we can get."

The captain nodded. "Yes. And speaking of which, at some point I'd like to introduce you to the new pilot, but we'll have to wait for a bit. Kid's still nervous and all."

But deep down, Bright couldn't help but worry how he'd react to the kid's... situation... so to speak.

"In due time," Joseph said, though he thought at the same time, 'he must be talking about the Dracon's pilot, whoever it must be...'

Bright nodded. "Right. So, what is it you wished to discuss with me?"

"Of course." Joseph turned to his junior officers. "You two may leave us," he prompted.

"Sir," the two officers saluted, before turning away. Joseph looked rather intent on making sure they left the room.

"Good. We're alone now," Revil said as he reached back for his personal touchpad. "And this is very important."

"Revil?" Bright and Meran were now very confused with the young Revil.

"However," Joseph added, "I think I would like to discuss this aboard your ship."

The captain nodded. "Right this way," he said, leading the young colonel to the _Ra Cailum_.

"And if possible, I'd like to meet your MS commander's protégé at some point," Revil added, "I trust that a good pupil of Amuro would make a good choice of student to bring on."

The three men made their way to the ship, where Bright guided Revil into his office. Meran saluted Bright as he closed the door and kept watch outside the office. Joseph looked around and saw a portrait of Amuro, with the posthumous Medal of Honor award certificate beside it. "Shame I'll never meet him," Joseph muttered wistfully.

"Yes. But I am sure he'd be proud of one of his pupils," Bright said as he joined him. "I'm glad to have helped the kid grow into the man he was before his... disappearance."

"If my father had lived through A Baoa Qu," Joseph thought aloud, "he would have been Amuro and the Newtypes' most powerful and vocal advocate in the Federation government. He was the most honorable and accomplished of the Federation military leadership, and would have certainly provided great guidance for all the member nations."

Bright nodded. "Yes. And that brings me back to what you were going to show me. What was it you wanted to discuss?" he asked, turning to look at Revil.

"Everything," Revil said as he drew out his touchpad again. Bright looked at it, and saw that it was not the government-issued electronic typical of high-ranking officers.

The pad suddenly lit up, a scanner function flashing as a small noise was heard. Bright was shocked by this as words flashed on the monitor. "SURVEILLANCE DEVICES: NON PRESENT." He staggered back a bit in surprise from the computer.

"What was that," Bright was completely startled, "why the scan?"

"Long story short, it was to scan for any sign of surveillance devices," Revil began. "It has to do with the contents of the laptop."

Bright now did not like what he was hearing, but kept his cool. "What could possibly be so important that we need this kind of privacy?"

"Everything you are about to see and hear... will have grave implications if anyone is to find out," Revil began. "And it has ties to the Laplace Incident all those years ago... back when it first happened at the start of the Universal Century."

"Laplace's Box..." Bright muttered, "but that was already revealed a year ago."

"Yes. But this goes much deeper than merely that," Revil explained. "It concerns how and why the charter was altered to what it was." It was then that Revil tapped on the file stored in his computer. The contents came up and Bright's eyes widened. "The truth about everything," Revil summed it up.

Bright was in shock at the sight of the news articles. A lot of them already covered what happened, but he was seeing that some parts were highlighted or bolded. A quick cursory examination also uncovered something else: there were other documents of a trial after the death of Ricardo Marcenas. The trial constituted the supposed hiring of hitmen by someone named Henrich Zabi, which sent shivers down his spine.

His eyes narrowed as he scanned the news coverage of the trial before it split into a deathbed confession. But what surprised him was the fact that the deathbed confession was not, as the news claimed, the murder. Instead, it was of how he had been framed. Framed for a murder he did not commit.

Something was wrong here.

Terribly wrong.

Wait a minute.

"Zabi?" Bright suddenly had alarm bells going off in his head, "the same Zabi family?"

Revil nodded. His face had a grim look on it.

"Wait a minute," Bright scrolled through Henrich's profile.

He scanned it over, his eyes narrowed.

The Zabi family's involvement in the history of the UC era went a long way back before the One Year War. In fact, according to the profile, Henrich Zabi was one of Ricardo Marcenas' closest advisors and friends. The two had been actually not just friends, but almost brothers with how close they were. It also said that the men worked to help craft the charter as it had been before the alterations took place after the destruction of Laplace.

"How and where did you get this," Bright questioned.

"A friend of mine," was all Revil would say.

The profile even went on to state how after the Laplace Incident, Henrich Zabi had lost his status inside the Federation hierarchy, and after serving his sentence on Earth, was cast out into the early space colonies and never allowed to return.

Something was terribly wrong here. Bright narrowed his eyes.

"Zabi was exiled, but obviously that was not the end of the matter, was it," Bright surmised.

Revil shook his head. "No. It wasn't." He highlighted something else on the computer and it came up, revealing the contents of a letter, written by Henrich himself.

'How foolish I was,' the letter read, we were fools. Both of us. We thought the world would be better. We thought that it would bring about peace. Our goal was not to instigate a forced exodus. No. It was different. We sought to give people in space a chance. But those at the top... the real enemy... they had different ideas. Different goals. And they took our dream... and twisted it for their own selfish gain.

'In our naivety, we formed the Federation in hopes of unifying the world's most powerful nations to accelerate the recovery from the last series of global conflicts and chaos. Little did the both of us realize how much power we had given to cynical and tyrannical men who exploited our ideals to form a global elite hierarchy without a powerful rival nation to check it.'

'When we discovered the truth, it was too late for my old friend. He died due to the selfish actions of his son, who was an agent for the global elite. And in my shame, I tried to act, but was made an accomplice in his murder. I was framed and exiled, cast out and ordered to never return. I fled to Side 3, where my family set up shop. But... I had no idea what was to come... I hoped to rally the Sides to independence, to check their ambitions. But... it was all for nothing...'

'The people who financed and backed Marcenas and my Earth Federation initiative posed as humanitarians and philanthropists, tongues laced with platitudes and praise for humanistic values and global brotherhood. Yet as my friend became the first Prime Minister and I his Minister of Colony Development, they showed their true colors: tyrants and manipulators, who while enabling our rise to positions of power, at the same time bankrolled the very dictators, bureaucrats, rogues, and militants that threw our world into chaos to pave the way for our Federation. They promised us responsibility, power, and wealth to reshape the world, but it was all with strings attached. We were nothing but pawns to cover for the greed and cynicism of these elites... these Noblesse...'

'We has been played. So my friend came up with the idea to give the colonies real power. Power that they feared. He put it into the charter, hoping that it would be seen as legal, and for a moment, it seemed as if it would work. But unbeknownst to us, we had been observed, and thus, the terrorist attack happened. The original charter was lost, and it was altered to fit the Noblesse agenda. The colonies were seen as inferior, and this became the backbone of their policies... to keep those cast out and later born in space as a political and economic underclass they could abuse and use. The Earth became something to be worshipped, as they oppressed those deemed undesirable and sinful against the Earth.'

Bright's gaze hardened as he read on.

'My family, the Zabis, and the Marcenas family are now cursed with the knowledge that we helped to bring about this oppression and tragedy. In toppling the nations and empires of old out of misguided optimism for global governance, we gave birth to an even more sinister form of empire and power extending into the cosmos.'

'So it is my goal now to create a nation of colonies to stand against them. Even if I shall fail to recognize justice in this time, others shall rise to challenge the stagnant and oppressive vassal system the Noblesse maintain through their Federation cronies. They shall rue the future where the people rediscover their liberty and independence in the reaches of space, as did the empires of the Enlightenment Ages when their settlers forged their destinies in the Western Hemisphere and threw off their chains. May God fill the future pioneers with swift and terrific resolve against this Second Babylon, and grant them blessings untold of in the stars beyond that they may liberate our home planet of this globalist scourge!' The letter ended with that.

Bright slowly looked up. "This..." He swallowed. "Is this even real?" he asked softly.

Joseph nodded, "my source can verify this from the original copy of Zabi's confession, even though all other copies and articles were confiscated and destroyed."

Bright wasn't sure what to make of this. To learn that the Federation had altered Laplace's Box was one thing, but to learn of this... a conspiracy to... create an empire where Earth was the home of the elites?! His mind was reeling with this. And how did that boy, Seph, tie into this?

"There is more that you should know... about Zeon itself," Joseph said as he changed tabs. The tab that appeared showed something that made Bright shudder. "This... This is..."

"What his son," Joseph dropped, "Degwin Sodo Zabi, did in the years before and after his death."

Bright thought he had seen all of the Zabis' depravity in full, but the next set of contents shed a disturbing new light on the late sovereign of Zeon. These were classified documents, stamped with what seemed to be the seal of the Noblesse, detailing Degwin as a MEMBER of the group.

"My word...!" the captain whispered. "It... It was all planned... The One Year War... Everything...!"

"Not exactly," Joseph clarified, "originally, Degwin was tasked with the elimination of Zeon Deikun as a threat to the Noblesse. He and his cronies did carry it out of course, but he also had every intention of betraying them."

Bright frowned. "And... what was his intention then?"

"To carry out Henrich's will," Joseph indicated, "by establishing Zeon as a powerful nation capable of fielding mobile suits, Degwin could solidfy his own powerbase to oppose the Noblesse. To that end, he actually subverted and created his own base using the Noblesse's own financial resources."

He then reached over to the PC again. "Degwin, however, was just the tip of the iceberg in the One Year War."

Bright's eyes widened at the sight of the list as it appeared on the monitor. "No way...!" he whispered.

Some of those names he knew well. But others he did not. However, yet another name stood out.

Bright's eyes narrowed. "Gihren...Zabi?"

"Yes," Joseph grunted at the name, "he was also Noblesse, specifically tasked with eliminating the Ral family during Zeon's early days."

Now Bright was starting to understand what was going on. "So these... Noblesse... they were the ones who started the current UC calendar, but twisted it around... and as a result, so did the Zabis...

"The Zabis hoped that by joining the Noblesse, they could actually overthrow them and the Federation with it," Joseph further explained, "however, the Noblesse were cunning enough to change strategy. Using their agents within Zeon and playing off Zabi family rivalries, they sowed discord within Zeon while simultaneously backing more Earthnoid hardliners into positions of power across the Earth Federation."

It was then that the young Revil brought up more files. "Since then, they've just manipulated more conflicts since to increase their power within the Federation." More names of Noblesse members and associates started to pop up.

A few names he recognized.

Bask Om, Jamaican Daninghan, Dr. Murasame, Josh Offshore... The names were prominent. Jamitov Hymem, Martha Vist Carbine, Ronan Marcenas, Alberto Vist... and a lot of current officials including admirals, generals, and even the current prime minister.

It was then that Bright's eyes widened again as he recognized names... from Neo-Zeon and the current Republic.

Horst Harness, Kaises M. Buyer..

A few other names leapt out at him.

Haman Karn, Full Frontal, Monaghan and Darcia Bakharov.

Bright had his mind blown. Even Zeon was as badly infiltrated and compromised as Anaheim and the Federation.

One thing came to his mind at that point: Who COULD they even trust? He asked Revil this, half expecting an answer in their favor.

"Very few unfortunately," Revil admitted, "for all the bumps and setbacks in the fighting between the Federation and Zeon, the Noblesse had their trajectory thoroughly planned where either side would be their tool in total control of the Earth Sphere."

"So we're basically on our own then?" Bright asked, despair starting to cross his features.

"Not at all, Bright," Joseph said with determination, "my friend has many connections throughout the Earth Sphere on both sides. Some of them did help to attain this information, albeit at great cost. I can assure you, however, that there are indeed good allies we can count on, but at the moment are scattered and unable to make any major moves without the Noblesse knowing."

To Bright, to hear they had allies was a huge relief, but to hear they were scattered and left unable to coordinate things was a huge disappointment.

"And that brings me back to the next issue," Revil continued. "I heard about the new mobile suit you have in your hangar bay."

Bright straightened his back for composure. "It was a renegade mobile suit that we captured along with its pilot," he said, "nothing more."

Joseph suddenly smiled and chuckled a bit. "Bright," he said, "that mobile suit is the Unicorn Gundam, Unit 4, callsign Dracon."

Bright's eyes widened. "H-How did...?"

Joseph laughed heartily. "Like I said, I have a friend with good connections."

Bright sighed. "Yeah. Okay. But what does the Dracon and the kid have to do with this?" he asked, gesturing to the computer.

"The Dracon was actually designed for the explicit purpose of getting this information out to the public," Revil explained. "But, my friend didn't explain just how it was supposed to do so."

"But... I thought the psychoframe technology was sealed away," Bright pointed out, "the Federal government saw to that."

"Is that so?" Revil asked. "Or is that what they want you to believe? Think carefully, Bright."

Revil then tapped on yet another file. "Maybe this will help you." Bright looked at it, and his eyes widened.

The files that displayed really drove home what was really going on. The Banshee was currently under strict lock and key, and the Unicorn was sealed and kept under heavy guard as well. But what really surprised him was the Phenex. Having gone missing a year ago, it was now on the run, and it was a possibly dangerous threat.

Much like the sentient Gundam they had in their hangar bay.

"They weren't dismantled after all," Bright said of the Unicorn and Banshee.

"No. And for a reason we can't understand right now. But whatever the case, the pilot of the Dracon must be guarded at all costs. I take it they are on the ship here somewhere?" Revil inquired.

"They are," Bright answered, now a bit more confident in trusting Revil, "I have Commander Lee watching him with my men."

"Okay. I hope you don't mind me asking if I could meet the pilot of the Dracon, then?" Revil asked with a small smile.

Bright pursed his lips. The One Year War veteran had a solemn look about him.

Revil was mildly surprised. "Something wrong?"

Bright looked Revil deep in the eyes. "You're not going to like this..."

* * *

Seph grunted as he chased the red mobile suit in front of him. His wings twitched as he ducked behind some debris, holding his beam magnum across his chest. His optics pulsed beneath his faceguard as he prepared to fire.

He fired another shot, only for the Sazabi to dodge and fire back at him. Seph rolled to the right behind another asteroid before he fired again, this time at an asteroid close to the Sazabi, hoping the debris would disrupt its lock on him.

The asteroid disintegrated, only for several funnels to fly through the flash and fire beams at Seph.

Seph yelped as he dove down, his thruster pack roaring in his audios. He fired off his head Vulcans in a desperate attempt to take down the funnels. He fared rather poorly, as the beams grazed his frame from all sides. One beam struck the e-pacs on his magnum, causing it to blow up and leave him without a rifle.

"Gah!" Seph threw his arms up in front of his chest as he weaved left and right, trying to dodge the beams. "Crud!" His audio sensors were flooded with alerts as he sustained heat damage from the beams, despite the armor's durability.

He peeled out, only to come face to face with the Sazabi as it aimed a gun at his chest. "Oh... nuts...!" was all he had time to say.

There was a flash of light, then static in his vision. The screen then blinked out and re-initialized as the program ended. He was treated to the sight of the _Ra Cailum_ hangar, and looking down, one exasperated-looking Chase Lee.

"End simulation program," Chase prompted the tech next to him. He then looked up at the Dracon. "Char Aznable killed you three times already."

Seph groaned as he hung his head. "Sorry..." he muttered.

Chase walked up to the sentient Gundam as he stared right up towards Seph's optics. "I keep telling you to close the distance and get right in there with Char," the Londo Bell commander lectured, "Amuro himself figured out that Char's options were limited in close quarters, as good a swordsman the Red Comet was. You need to observe the enemy for weak spots more closely than just firing at random."

Seph looked down and he nodded, feeling his faceplate burning with embarrassment. "I understand, but I still don't know how to activate any close range weapons," he said.

The Delta Plus pilot was floored at the admission. "I thought you have some sort of mental access to your weapons bank," he said.

"I do, but I can only use my head Vulcans," Seph admitted. "That's about as good as I have right now." He looked down at the beam tonfas on his arms.

Chase had to resist rubbing his head in frustration, not wanting to discourage the young PMC pilot. 'At this rate... this guy is going to be destroyed upon entering the battle, no matter how much power he has.'

Seph tilted his head to the side in an inquisitive manner. "Uh, sir?"

"Never mind," Chase shook his head, "we'll do this however times we need until we get it right. In the meantime, try and better access your weapons system. If you can get your psychoframe to go haywire, accessing your weapons is the least dangerous thing you can do."

Seph nodded, then paused. He tilted his head a bit more. Were his audios malfunctioning? Or were those footsteps he was hearing?

"Lieutenant Commander," it was Bright's voice. Upon hearing that, Chase looked down from the railing to see his captain, accompanied by another ranking officer.

"Captain Bright, sir," Chase saluted.

"How's the new kid doing on his training?" Bright asked.

"Work in progress," Chase said scratching the back of his head.

"I see." Bright looked up at the Gundam as he turned his head away, which surprised Revil. He cocked an eyebrow as he looked to Chase.

Chase realized that the officer was looking his way. He quickly thought of an alibi.

"You have to excuse us," Chase defended, "we're doing some system checks with the mobile suit we captured."

"Hm. I was hoping to meet the young pilot you took under your tutelage, Lieutenant Commander," Revil replied. "I thought he would be here."

"Well..." Chase replied, trying to hold composure, "he's a little exhausted right now..."

"Ah. So he would be in the quarters, then," Revil surmised. Although he was getting a bad feeling judging from the fact the Gundam's head was moving.

"That's right," Chase went on, "he did just get assigned to the ship not too long ago." He did not know who this officer was, but Chase certainly did not trust him enough.

"Very well. I'll see about meeting him later." Revil watched as the Dracon pivoted its head towards him, its optics locking right onto him. And he swore he could see something within them. "Is that part of the system check? Rather unusual," Revil remarked. He paused for a bit, then decided to drop it on Chase, "then again, nothing about the Unicorn Gundam Dracon is usual, is it Lieutenant Commander?"

Chase froze. 'Oh, nuts...'

Seeing the shock on the young pilot's face, Revil raised his hand. "It's alright," he reassured, "I already know about the Dracon. I also know that it's pilot managed to trigger its NT-D when you tried to capture it. If it helps, I want to say thank you for helping to retrieve the Dracon before the pilot hurt himself."

Chase nodded, feeling some relief that he didn't know about the boy's condition. "Yes. It is good that we were in the area at the time," he remarked.

Chase then decided to finally ask. "If I may, who am I speaking to?"

"Colonel Joseph Revil, EFSF," the officer replied, saluting.

"Revil," the Delta Plus pilot recognized the name, "as in THE General Revil!?"

"Yes," Revil confirmed. "He was my father." The silence was deafening for Chase, as he never knew that General Johann Revil had family.

Seph actually spluttered in shock. "W-What?!" he blurted, completely forgetting his circumstance. "Y-General Revil was your FATHER?!"

"Seph!" Chase barked, now sweating bullets.

Revil looked up at the Gundam, surprise coloring his features.

Bright had to resist the urge to facepalm.

The colonel looked to Chase. "Care to explain, Lieutenant Commander?"

"Darn..." Chase muttered under his breath. Revil crossed his arms. "Well?"

Bright was silent as he gazed at Seph, making the Gundam turn his head, although the faintest hint of red could be seen on his faceguard.

"Well..." Chase said as he eyed Seph in the Dracon. Out of the corner of his vision, he could also spy a gun that he let rest on one of the consoles.

"When we tried to get the pilot out," Chase reluctantly answered, "we realized that it was not quite a regular mobile suit, and not just the fact the it's a Unicorn unit..."

Revil arched an eyebrow. "How so?" he asked.

Chase hesitated as he took a gulp. "The Gundam... absorbed its pilot."

Revil was silent, then he looked at the Gundam in the cradle. His eyes locked into those violet optics, and now he could recognize the human intelligence within them. His eyes widened in disbelief.

"Is... this true?" he asked.

A small whine escaped the Gundam as he nodded slowly. "I am... the Gundam..." Seph mournfully admitted.

The colonel turned to Chase. "And you weren't going to tell me," he mused.

It was then that Chase decide to drop the act. "Seph is my responsibility, and I'm not about to see him scrapped with the Gundam." He quietly reached behind him and held the pistol, thumb on the safety.

Revil, however, was silent as he gazed at the Gundam. He shifted his head around, and it was clear to the colonel that he was immobile due to an OS lock. Then he turned to Chase. "Rest assured, I have no intentions like that," he said.

"That may be," Chase said, still gripping the pistol behind his back, "but I know that many in the government and Anaheim will certainly not feel the same way." Chase knew very well the Federation government's own track record with psycommu weapons from Amuro's own accounts.

Seph by now was silent, and downright scared. His frame may have been immobile, but he was still scared. His reactor was humming louder in his chest as he watched this playing out before him.

"Well, then that is an issue," Revil admitted.

Bright glanced to Chase. "Lieutenant Commander, Colonel Revil is here to help us," he said. "If anything, maybe he has a plan to help the kid."

Chase relaxed his grip on the gun, but still wanted to ascertain the situation. "Well then, Colonel," he inquired, "just how exactly are you going to help this guy?"

"My friend can... enlist... the kid in the EFF, give him records and an alias so this way the Feds can't find him that easily," Revil suggested. "This offer also extends to any who happened to be close to him at the time."

Chase was once again surprised. "Wait, what?"

"We can give the kid a false cover," Revil repeated.

Seph himself was surprised as well. This EFF officer barely met him, and now all of a sudden wanted to help.

No less, the son of the famed General Revil himself.

The Gundam's optics were wide beneath his faceguard. "W-What?!" he blurted.

Joseph looked up at the sentient Gundam. "You don't want to be dismantled right," he questioned, "I can ask my friend to give you a cover story so that you can work with Captain Bright and Londo Bell to survive until we get this issue resolved. Besides..."

He pointed up at Seph, or rather the Dracon. "That Gundam that absorbed you, is a very important one, and my friend believes that you have the potential to unlock its true power."

Seph tilted his helm to the side. "Wait... how is this-" He looked down at his frame. "-be considered very important?" he asked.

"It will be revealed in due time... and a more suitable location than here," Joseph answered in a cryptic tone.

The Gundam was confused, but let it go for now. "Um... what... mind me asking what kind of alias you plan on giving me?" Seph asked.

Joseph mused over this for a bit, before saying, "you're Lieutenant Kyle Ray, assigned to the battleship _Ra Cailum_ under Bright Noa's command."

"Uh..." Seph inclined his helm to the other side. "Okay? Why Kyle Ray though?" Joseph shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Well, better than something stupid," Seph muttered. He shifted his head around, trying to alleviate the aching in his shoulders. "Crud...! Man! I sure wish I had mobility again!"

Now it was Revil's turn to be floored. He turned to Bright with a quizzical expression that was asking for an answer. Bright sighed. "The kid's apparently got some... sensitivity... in his frame. He's getting cramps, it seems," he explained.

The Delta Plus pilot shook his head, but knew what to do. "Adjust the cradle locks," he prompted the techie next to him. The techie nodded, although she was a bit uneasy. She fiddled with her datapad before the locks adjusted and Seph's shoulders sagged a little in the limited freedom. A sigh of relief escaped him. "Much better..."

Joseph almost found that remark amusing, but at the same time, his head was swirling with how to break this weird development to Dr. Ming.

If anything, they had to be extra careful. One wrong slip up and the boy was set for the scrappers.

_**End Chapter 4** _


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own Gundam Unicorn, Gundam Narrative, or the Gundam franchise. Chase Lee and Johann Revil are among my OCs. Seph Matthews, Tina Hendricks, Dr. Lombardi, and Dr. Ming belong to Titanic X.**

* * *

** Lunar Surface, 100 kilometers from Von Braun **

** September, UC 0097 **

Seph nervously looked around, his optics wide beneath his visor. He hefted the beam rifle hastily given to him by one of the technicians, trying to keep himself from shaking in his armor. Chase's Delta Plus flew alongside him as they sped across the surface of the Moon. "This is Crux. Dragon report in."

"So far nothing, sir," Seph radioed, still trying to get used to the sensation of using his comm system.

"The standard procedure in your case is to say, 'Dragon, roger'," Chase taught, "but I'll take that as an affirmative for now."

A light blush appeared on Seph's faceplate under his face guard as he nodded. "Right. Sorry," he muttered.

"Hey, there's a first for everything, Dragon," Chase said with a chuckle to break the ice.

The Gundam's wings twitched as he scanned around him with his optics. He still had no idea how to use his scanners, and actually, he was still nervous about this.

Though he was glad to have mobility back, at least.

"Alright, Ensign Kyle," Chase began, "we're going to conduct basic maneuver courses based as prescribed in this report concerning your MS's test run." He was referring to the test course that was originally laid out for Dr. Lombardi's team the day of the mishap. "I'm sending you data of your route."

Seph wasn't sure how he was going to get the updated route, only to yelp in surprise at the sight of his HUD flashing. It... All he could think of was it was like a computer updating. Except it was _him_ getting the update. And it weirded him out immensely. The updated map flashed on his HUD, indicating the route he was supposed to go. "Your HUD has been updated Dragon," Chase said as he broke away into a holding pattern, "get to work."

Seph nodded. "Y-Yes, sir!" he stammered. He adjusted his flight path, preparing to undergo the same test that led him to... his predicament.

Focusing his thoughts on his thrusters, 'Ensign Kyle Ray' accelerated the Dracon to attack speed as the test commanded.

His optics narrowed beneath his visor, but his reactor increased its humming in his chest as he sped on. ' _I just hope I can complete it right this time..._ ' he thought to himself.

Chase watched as the Dracon maneuvered along its designated course, simulating the debris field despite the physical lack of one. He marvelled at how the Unicorn Dracon maneuvered.

"Wow..." Chase marvelled, "and without a Wave Rider mode..." The secret lay in the Dracon's wings. With them fully spread, Seph's maneuverability was increased drastically. To Chase, the Dracon reminded him of an ancient dragon from mythology flying through the air. He watched as Seph twirled around some imaginary debris, leaving a small dust trail in his wake. "I've got to admit," Chase said to himself, "whoever designed the Unicorn series designed it well." He watched as Seph drew his wings closer to his back before increasing speed. He flared his wings out and abruptly cut his speed before he fired his thrusters and braked, turning and using his thrusters again to boost to the right, then the left, as if dodging asteroids.

"You're doing great, Dragon," Chase radioed in, "you're almost there."

The dark colored Gundam braked hard, driving his feet into the ground and springing off the dusty lunar surface, doing a flip before he fired his thrusters, coming to a hover and looking back over his shoulder, chest rising and falling slightly as if panting.

"Stellar flying, Ensign Kyle," Chase complimented, "your MS' maneuverability is incredible!"

"Thanks... I think..." Seph replied, looking at his hands. "I had no idea..." He glanced back at his wings and flexed them a bit. "Still can't get used to these..." The Gundam looked around, only for his radar to blare in his head. A yelp escaped his vocalizer as he boosted back, barely avoiding a barrage of gunfire from a cluster of mobile suits belonging to Londo Bell marines. "Commander!?" Seph was rattled.

"Relax, those are training lasers," Chase reminded, "the next course as you probably recall was originally combat evasion. However, I was given the liberty to revise it." The Londo Bell commander then transmitted new objectives to Seph. "Instead," Chase indicated, "you're to engage in direct combat. Your objective is to 'shoot' down the enemy, while still avoiding getting hit. This will be a test of you and the Dracon's basic combat ability, so take it seriously."

The Gundam gulped audibly as he nodded. "R-Roger," he stammered. Seph shivered in his armor as he gripped the beam rifle he had been given for this session. He aimed it with shaky hands, only to peel off when he saw a salvo of lasers coming his way. He weaved through them, relying on his dark colored armor to avoid detection.

"You can do it, Dragon," Chase encouraged, "show me what you've got!"

Seph spun around and aimed again, his arms still shaking. He tried his best to steady them. The targeting reticle danced across his sight as he aimed and fired. The four Jegans dispersed and continued to fire at Seph with their training lasers. The Gundam flipped to the right, firing at the closest Jegan as his optics flared beneath his visor.

The beam actually hit, causing the Jegan pilot to have to withdraw from the fight. Chase saw the hit and just how quickly Seph shot the 'enemy'. "Kid's not bad," Chase noted. In actuality, Seph was surprised he had gotten a hit.

Another salvo of lasers got the sentient Gundam's attention. His wings flared as he crouched and flipped over the lasers, firing as he did so. From Seph's view, he could actually make out 'lines' of sorts from his weapon and the enemy mobile suits. It was as though he was using a laser sight, and he could see the lasers from the other suits' rifles. The whole thing was unnerving. He aimed his rifle again, and fired a few shots off in quick succession. ' _The heck is happening here?_ ' he thought. When one of the enemy 'lines' crossed onto his body, his radar alert went off. Seph dodged the beam, his agility making it a nearly effortless feat.

 _'It's like, I can tell where they'll shoot and when,'_ Seph thought as he aimed his rifle at where a Jegan was going to be. A series of shots hit the Jegan, making the pilot back off. ' _This is so weird!_ '

Chase observed the maneuvering Dracon and how it was taking on the Jegans. _'Seph's control of the Dracon is incredible,'_ he thought, _'it's almost like I'm really watching Amuro in action...'_ It did help that Seph was using the Dracon as his _body_ , though, he figured. _'Still, he will have much to learn on the battlefield...'_ Chase mused, _'and it's still going to be much harder...'_

Landing on the dusty lunar surface, the dark colored Gundam looked around at the last two Jegans coming at him before his visor flashed purple. He flared his wings wide open and, surprising Chase, fired his thrusters without lifting off. Chase gaped at the sudden dust cloud as it concealed the area. He watched for a few moments, half expecting Seph to come out, but instead, the Jegans retreated from the dust as it began to settle, revealing Seph standing there, his beam rifle held up as he crouched, scanning for any more enemies. "There..." Seph muttered as he detected one of the Jegans through the dust. He aimed his rifle and fired a shot, striking the Jegan before boosting back further into the cloud.

The last Jegan then decided to go for broke and pursue the Dracon into the cloud. The pilot activated his thermal to assist in spotting Seph. Seph, however, was plastered against the dusty ground, waiting for his chance. His optics pulsed lightly before he rolled onto his back and fired his beam rifle, one last time. The laser struck home on the Jegan, causing the weapons systems to go red on the pilot.

"Dragon just got his last kill," Chase tallied it up with a smirk, "you're dead, Red Four."

The Jegan retreated as Seph hovered out of the dust cloud, his armor sporting some smudges here and there. He looked around, watching as Chase came closer in his Delta Plus. "Uh... how'd I do?" he asked, rubbing the back of his helm sheepishly.

Chase chuckled aloud. "For the record," he said, "that was awesome!"

"Uh... Okay?" Seph was honestly confused, and it showed in his body language as he subconsciously scratched his headplate. "How so?"

"You handled that mobile suit like no other," Chase indicated, pointing with the Delta Plus' finger, "I couldn't have pulled the maneuvers you did when I was just a rookie like you. You've got some real combat potential to handle that Gundam the way you did just now."

Seph glanced down at his frame, looking himself over. "Okay...? But... I _am_ the Gundam, remember?" he pointed out, flicking his wings a bit as he looked at one of his hands. Then he looked up. "You think that had something to do with how good I did?"

Chase offered, "maybe that, or maybe it could be revealing something about yourself that you never knew..."

Seph felt a bit uneasy and he visibly shuddered, his armor rattling against his metallic hide soundlessly. "Yeah... So... what now?"

"We continue training," Chase said as his Delta Plus lifted off, "we still have time left on our mission clock, so let's make the use of it, Dragon. Follow my lead."

The Gundam nodded and followed after. The two mobile suits soared across the lunar surface towards their next objectives.

* * *

** Anaheim Electronics, Von Braun, Alberto Vist's Office **

The room was quiet as Anaheim executive, Alberto Vist sat at his desk, hands held in front of his mouth as he pondered what was happening at the moment. _'No further information about the Dracon...'_ Alberto pondered, _'as long as it remains in Londo Bell hands, we are still safe... but if Zeon or the Noblesse get a hold of it and find out I helped to facilitate the transfer...'_

The portly executive of Anaheim scratched his head anxiously. Ever since the Laplace Declaration and his reform in character after the death of his love interest, Marida Cruz, the powers that be of the Universal Century were keeping him under watch. In all honesty, he was worried. 'Of course I am worried,' he thought to himself, 'but I can't live like those people anymore. It's not right...' And for good reason. He had seen what was lying beneath the false glamour of his former lifestyle. If they were willing to reprogram a human being, then... he had to do something. But what?

There was a vibration from underneath his desk. Recognizing what it was, he pulled out the vibrating touchpad from the drawer and tapped on it. The touchpad then did a scan of the room for surveillance devices. The device beeped a few times, indicating the room was clear.

Once that was done, Alberto tapped it and up came his contact's image. "Hello Alberto," the wizened image of Dr. Ming greeted the executive.

"It's... It's been a while," Alberto remarked.

"Actually, not so long ago since I first approached you," Ming reminded. Alberto reflected back on that day, after he had been led away by Federation forces, unaware he had been being watched the whole time. When he was left alone after being escorted out, the old engineer had contacted him directly, bringing him into the fold of trusted people within Dr. Ming's underground organization. After a series of some earnest and difficult discussions, Alberto agreed to act as a mole within the Noblesse, while nominally maintaining his position inside Anaheim. He was reluctant to get entangled with another potential conspiracy, but given how the Noblesse were aggressively tying up loose ends and shutting down discussion over Laplace's Box, Alberto had no other choice. Either way, there was no way he was going to simply continue being their lapdog.

So now here he was, acting as a mole for the engineer's organization. Alberto looked up. "Sir... what's the meaning for this communication?" he asked wearily.

"I thought you should know that my friend inside the base made contact with Captain Bright of Londo Bell," Ming started, "and he's confirmed that the Dracon is indeed still in Londo Bell custody."

Alberto let out a sigh of relief. "That's good news..." Then he looked up again. "And the pilot?"

"You probably don't want to know," Dr. Ming warned with a deadpan expression. The executive was curious, but he wisely held his tongue. No doubt he'd learn sooner or later. "Anything else, Doctor?"

"You should also know that Captain Bright, being the distrustful man he can be at times," Ming had an amused tone when he said that, "also dispatched a group of marines heading in your direction."

Alberto tensed at that. "And...?"

"I've got some important information for you to pass onto Captain Bright," the old engineer informed, "it is especially sensitive, and if not handled right, can put a lot of good people in danger."

Alberto frowned at the sound of that. Enough good people had been put into danger, many of them by his own hands. Yet anything involving the Noblesse was bohnd to put lots of people at risk, and Alberto was determined to do everything in his power to now thwart them. "Tell me then. I will make sure it gets to him."

"I'm transmitting the data to you now." The screen lit up with another open window, which showed a quick download in progress.

Alberto watched it, only to blink in surprise once the data was finished downloading. "This... This is..." His eyes widened a bit before he squared his shoulders. "I'll get this to Captain Bright as soon as possible."

"Since those marines are probably inside the facility, of they should find you, or you come across them, surrender yourself and the pad to them immediately," Dr. Ming prompted, "because with the way things could go, your tenure of being Anaheim CEO couls end very soon. Go quickly, before the Noblesse realize what you've done."

Alberto nodded."I'll begone before they know it." He indulged himself a smirk of confidence.

As the call ended, Alberto packed the pad away in its sheath. As he did, he pondered how exactly he was going to get this to the Ra Cailum marines, if they were even inside the place. He stood up and prepared to make his way out of the office.

* * *

**Elsewhere inside Anaheim...**

Nigel slipped down one of the many corridors, his eyes narrowed as he hefted his gun in his grasp.

"Remind me why we are tagging along with Phantom like this," Daryl grunted as he scanned his sectors.

"Because we have a mission," Nigel shot back in a low whisper.

"And knocking heads," Watts chimed, referencing some two security guards whose heads he bonked. Nigel rolled his eyes, but a smirk played across his features. "Okay. You guys got the location?" he asked.

One of the marines checked his data map for their target. "The server room is fifty meters east of our current position. We'll have to go across a large parking lot as the fastest route there." The Tri-Stars and Phantom marines moved on towards the server room, unaware that they were going to run into a familiar face on the way.

Alberto peered around the corner, trying to act as calm as ever, but deep down he was nervous as heck. _'No sign of our 'guests','_ Alberto thought as he walked towards his car. As he did, he discreetly felt for the revolver he had under his coat. As he continued to walk, he heard footsteps. _'Please don't let it be security...'_ Alberto thought as he scanned the parking lot. Much to his surprise, and hidden relief, it was not security, but instead Londo Bell forces.

When one of the marines spotted him, he aimed his weapon in his direction. "Freeze," the marine prompted. Alberto held up his hands, holding the touchpad's case in plain sight. He smiled with a calm look on his face, a completely opposite reaction to the fear and groveling his old cowardly self would have assumed. ** _  
_**

"It's Alberto Vist," Nigel recognized the man from the Cheyenne Base, "hold your fire marines. The marines looked at one another before lowering their rifles.

"Hey," Daryl rather rudely pointed, "you're that Anaheim executive Bright encountered at the Cheyenne Base. What are you doing here?"

Alberto simply showed his briefcase. "I'm on a bit of a business trip," he explained, "as a matter of fact, I've been looking for you people." This raised eyebrows among the group, which Alberto expected. He then said, "I need to see Captain Bright ASAP, and I'll need your help getting me and this briefcase safely to him."

Nigel stared at Alberto intently.

"Don't Lieutenant," Watts growled at Alberto, "it could be a ruse to trap us."

"I assure you it's no trap," Alberto insisted, maintaining an even tone and composure, though he was a little nervous underneath.

"Let me handle this," Nigel shot back at Watts, who grit his teeth. Nigel then walked up to Alberto. He was distrustful, but went for a different tact.

"Vist, you were a key figure in the last Neo Zeon War, especially with your presence at the Cheyenne Base when Gryps II was fired. Bright told me that you actually tried to stop your own aunt," Nigel said, "maybe you can be trusted, but how can we be assured of that?"

"Let's just say that what I have here is very vital to the protection of your...newest machine," Alberto said, choosing his words carefully, "also there is information that Bright HAS to see at once... it concerns the fate of the _Nahel Argama_."

The sound of the Nahel Argama caught Nigel's attention. He grabbed Alberto by the collar and nailed him against a car side. "What do you know of the _Nahel Argama_!? It's been missing ever since!"

"Just- Just trust me!" Alberto gasped as he fought the strain of Nigel nearly choking him. "A... Anyways... I...I can't... can't go back to... to Anaheim now..."

Nigel was about to ask what that meant, when a red light suddenly danced up Alberto's suit, stopping at his head. A second one suddenly showed on Nigel's tactical vest. "Company!" he cried. He barely managed to throw himself and Alberto to the floor as two shots zipped over where they would have been. The parking lot erupted into gunfire as Anaheim tactical security stormed the area.

Daryl looked over his shoulder. "Got hostiles!" he hissed as he aimed his own gun and fired in the direction the shots had come from.

"Take cover," Phantom leader commanded his marines as the Londo Bell forces used whatever car engine blocks they could find to block the bullets.

Nigel dragged Alberto over to another car and looked back. "Something tells me someone has got it in for you," he remarked as he began shooting back.

"Well, I was thinking about leaving Anaheim," Alberto quipped as he pulled his revolver, "guess I can say that I just got 'fired'." He let out an ironic snicker at his pun.

Nigel looked back at the former executive and a smirk crossed his face. "So... I guess this means you really are on our side," Nigel laughed in spite of himself.

"Yeah," Alberto chuckled, "though we'd better get out of here before we really get FIRED to bits."

"Sir, we need to move. Our company's just getting heated," Daryl remarked.

"Right, and if what Vist says is true," Nigel relented as he laid down fire, "we may not have much time..." He then faced Phantom Leader. "We have what we need. Get Crux on the line!"

The man nodded and brought up his comm unit. "Crux, this is Phantom One. We have the package. I repeat, we have the package! We're in need of extraction, currently engaged with hostiles at the Anaheim plant!"

* * *

**Back at the lunar training site...**

"Copy that, Phantom One," Chase acknowledged, "hang in there!"

With that, Chase turned to Seph. "Ensign Kyle, change in plan," he said, "we've got our guys in a tight spot over at Anaheim. I'm going to have to go help before they get overrun!"

"Uh... Wait... what?" Seph was baffled as Chase started to leave. "Hey! Wait up!"

"Dragon," Chase looked back, "I'm going to need you to provide cover and spotting for me as I go to retrieve Nigel and the others. If I'm trapped at Anaheim, we'll be in big trouble. Can you cover me?"

Seph felt his reactor leap into his throat at that. "R-Roger," he stammered before he gulped audibly over the comm. Or at least made a noise akin to it.

"Relax, Dragon," Chase coaxed, "I'm really counting on you for support. It's rather simple until I can get out of the place." Seph gripped his beam rifle tightly. "O-Okay. I'll do my b-best..." he said. He flew closer to the lunar surface, hoping his dark colored armor would make him close to invisible.

Meanwhile, Chase was racing back towards Von Braun where the Anaheim plant was located. "I'll need to get inside without being spoted," he told himself as his computer began to work potential points of infiltration. He looked around at the monitors as different solutions came up on his screens. It was then that he spied an entrance on his screen and zoomed in on the image. "Ah," Chase noted, "the old maintenance tunnel. Hasn't been used in years." He brought his Delta Plus in and transformed it to Wave Rider mode before touching down close to the tunnel.

"Phantom One, Tri-Star One," Chase radioed, "I'm at the old maintenance tunnel, Tunnel A-02. Haul your butts over here in three minutes!"

Phantom One's voice echoed over the comm. _"Yes, sir! Glad you showed up."_

"Save the thanks for when we actually get out of here," Chase prompted as he began the clock, "move it!"

The team leader barked over the comm to his troops. _"Move it! We got our extraction waiting at the exit!"_

Chase waited in anticipation as the clock started counting down. He hoped that Nigel would make it out fast enough before he was detected.

* * *

Nigel mowed down two of Anaheim's security mercenaries before grabbing Alberto. "Our ride's here," he urged, "what's the fastest route to Tunnel A-02?"

"Well..." Alberto thought as he reloaded his revolver, "since there are numerous service tunnels underneath this facility for service vehicles, I say those are our best chance to get to that tunnel. But... that tunnel's been closed for years, and I'm not even sure if it is safe enough for us to go through."

"Better that then get attacked and captured or killed," Nigel said seriously. "So let's move!"

"There's a shuttle over there," Watts pointed towards an empty tunnel shuttle.

"Good! Let's go!" Nigel barked. The team broke into a run, heading for the shuttle. "Shield Vist from enemy fire," Nigel prompted, "he's our VIP to protect now!" A group of marines started to form a protective barrier around Alberto who hefted his gun nervously, but stayed on the move.

"Grenade out," Daryl called as he tossed a frag grenade. The grenade exploded further away from the group, causing a few of the Anaheim security forces to retreat while others scrambled for higher ground. "Get in," Watts shouted as he turned the switch for the shuttle motor.

Nigel and Daryl leapt into the vehicle, with the former executive and marines clambering in after them. "Step on it," Nigel commanded. Watts floored the pedal, causing the shuttle to jolt forward and speed down a tunnel.

Alberto was almost thrown back if he didn't brace himself. "T-Take a left just a further ways down," he stammered. "It will take you to an intersection. Once you reach that, turn right."

"Backseat prima donna driver..." Watts muttered to himself, but sped up towards the turn. Watts made a hard left and sped down the tunnel. It was then that gunshots hit the rear of the shuttle. "More company at six o'clock." The marines fired back at the pursuing shuttles. Watts tried to shake them, but the shuttle had limited maneuverability. "How much farther?!" Daryl yelled as he leaned out and fired a few rounds in the direction of the other shuttles.

"I'm trying," Watts shouted back, "this isn't exactly a Base Jabber you know!"

The next turn was just ahead. Watts swerved the shuttle down the turn and pressed the gas as close to the floor as he could. The shuttle whined as more power was put to its engine. "We can't have them follow us like this," Nigel muttered. He looked to the marine next to him. "Do we have any launchers to cover our exit?" The female marine nodded. "Yes, sir," she said. She reached down and pulled out a grenade launcher. ** _  
_**

"Cause an accident," Nigel prompted with a smirk, pointing at some smoke rounds. The marine nodded and aimed the launcher, targeting the closest shuttle as it came her way. She fired off in the direction of the smoke rounds, the projectile homing in on their location. The round landed inside the cabin, causing it to fill with smoke. The security force members coughed from the smoke, including the driver, who got distracted as he lost visibility. The shuttle veered off course and collided with another one coming up from behind, causing both to flip and crash in the tunnel, blocking the other shuttles as they came up. "See you guys never again," Daryl hollered with a chuckle. With that, Watts veered the shuttle down towards the exit just down the next turn.

"Everyone get your helmets on," Phantom One ordered, "we're about to run out of air in that tunnel soon."

As everyone fitted on their helmets, one of the marines next to Alberto pointed out, "this guy doesn't have a normal suit. Any ideas?"

"Hey," another marine called out, "I think there's an emergency survival cabinet here. There should be some normal suits..." He opened the cabinet, and true enough, there were adjustable normal suits among the emergency kits. Pulling out a suit, he brought it over to Alberto. "Use this."

Alberto took it. "Right, thanks." As Alberto fitted the suit on, Nigel made the call to Chase.

"Crux, we're coming upon the extraction point now," he said.

* * *

_"We have one VIP in tow, so careful when you pick us up."_

"VIP?" Chase questioned as it was not part of the plan. "Your mission was to infiltrate their server room, not bring along passengers," he chided.

 _"It's_ _Alberto Vist,"_ Nigel answered back, _"name sound familiar?"_

Now it was Chase's turn to be floored. _'The Anaheim executive and Vist heir?'_ He narrowed his gaze. _'What game are you playing now, Vist?'_ He had heard about the man from Captain Bright when the latter had confronted him and Martha Vist Carbine down in Cheyenne. He knew the man well enough by reputation.

"Get his butt over here," Chase firmly commanded, "Bright will want to hear this."

 _"Yes, sir!"_ Nigel saluted. The comm went dead and Chase shot a glance back over his shoulder, wondering how Seph was doing.

 _'Shouldn't be too much...'_ Chase thought, _'I mean... he's watching my six.'_ The Londo Bell veteran settled back, only to notice the shuttle coming out of the tunnel exit. "Right on cue..." the Delta Plus ace muttered as he began to power up his engines. The Delta Plus transformed into its mobile suit form as it knelt. The shuttle peeled to a stop close by and Nigel waved. Zooming in with the main camera, he was able to confirm the survival of both the Tri-Star and Phantom Teams. True enough, their 'guest' was indeed Alberto Vist, wearing an Anaheim normal suit. In all honesty, this was unexpected, but he was not one about to turn down any advantage they could get.

"Good to see you all made it." Chase lowered his mobile suit's left hand towards the operators. "Let's beat it before they spot us." The team scrambled, along with their 'guest', out of the shuttle and bolted for the left hand of the Delta Plus. "I can already guess that Anaheim was less than hospitable, weren't they Tri-Star One," Chase quipped.

"You got that right, sir," Nigel remarked with a sarcastic laugh.

With everyone safely aboard, Chase slowly lifted off from the moon's surface and away from Anaheim. While he activated his ECM to disrupt detection systems, the Delta Plus pilot still took care to move slowly.

"Where's the kid?" Nigel asked, referring to Seph.

"I had him stay put and watch my six, until I could pick you all up. Speaking of which..." Chase switched frequencies, "Dragon, come in."

An audible squeak came over the comm before Seph's voice filtered through. _"I r-read you loud and clear, sir,"_ he responded.

"We're done over here," Chase informed, "let's bring it on home."

 _"Roger."_ Seph cut the comm and Nigel turned to try and spot the Gundam. "There he is," Nigel pointed towards the Gundam taking off from its position.

Chase could hear some mutters coming from the team as they saw Seph. From his perspective, it seemed kind of eerie seeing him emerge from his hiding spot like a ghost. He gave a shy wave to the Delta Plus. "Any signs of us being pursued?" Chase probably had no need to ask that, but he did just to see how Seph was doing under pressure.

"No sign of any hostiles," Seph reported, although he was a bit nervous with the way his wings twitched.

"Roger that, Dragon," Chase cheered, "thanks for watching my back."

The Gundam nodded. "Sure." He flicked his wings a bit before he flew after the Delta Plus, although he was shaking in his armor slightly.

"Roger, mission complete, Crux and Dragon returning to base." Chase's Delta Plus sped ahead slowly, still carrying its passengers.

"Hey, wait up!" Seph huffed as he accelerated.

On the Delta Plus' hand, Alberto was observing the dark colored Gundam. Alberto recognized the Gundam off the bat. It was the Dracon. But there was something off about it... For instance, was the Dracon actually _shaking?_

 _'Mobile suits don't shiver,'_ Alberto thought. It was then that he remembered how Dr. Ming did not want to talk about the pilot. Was there something he didn't want mentioned? Alberto frowned to himself. "What is going on with the Dracon?" he muttered under his breath.

* * *

**Ra Cailum, Captain Bright's Quarters**

Captain Bright mused over his meeting earlier with Joseph Revil. "... Just what is going on here?" he muttered. He thought he had seen it all up to the Laplace Declaration, but clearly, there was still very much he had yet to understand. And now, to top it all off, Alberto Vist was on the run from his own company.

 _'So many variables, and too many for mere coincidence,'_ Bright mused. He received word from Chase via Londo Bell's coded lines concerning Alberto's apparent defection from Anaheim, and that he had information concerning not only the Dracon, but the Nahel Argama of all things. For once, he was unsure of what to make of this. And things were only bound to get more interesting once Alberto showed up.

The intercom then beeped. _"Captain,"_ the CIC operator reported, _"Crux and Dragon are returning to base with the package in tow."_

Bright looked up and toggled the comm. "Excellent. As soon as they've landed and docked, get the package to my office."

He paused for a moment before continuing. "And make sure Dragon doesn't cause a mess when he's landing."

 _"Yes sir."_ With that, the line cut.

Bright pondered over Alberto's arrival. _'Must have to do with these Noblesse Revil was talking about. If so, we must tread carefully going forward...'_

* * *

**Ra Cailum Hangar Bay**

The bay was a bustling madhouse as the crews started to get the place ready for the incoming mobile suits. Of course, some of them were also trying to rig a crash net in case one of the two didn't exactly land on point.

"Commander Lee's Delta Plus is on approach," the catapult control radioed the recovery team, "get ready!"

The crew scrambled to their positions to receive the Delta Plus. Chase watched the landing bay come into view and he prepared to touch down. "Watch me, kid," he radioed the sentient Dracon. "And try not to mess up."

"Copy that, Crux," Seph said as he watched Chase make a fast carrier landing. While Seph was a trained MS pilot, carrier landings were not exactly his forte. And on top of it, given his... condition... he had to deal with an entirely different perspective when it came to landing. He made sure to line up behind Chase, and to help in his descent, he spread his wings as wide as they could go.

Seph hovered above the ship, maintaining his position as he watched Chase come in hot. His wings twitched as he gulped nervously. This wasn't his first time even performing a carrier landing, but it _was_ his first time performing one as a Gundam.

Chase expertly guided his blue Delta Plus in, making prudent use of his microthrusters to make it as smooth as landings could be with passengers in his grip. His machine approached the landing bay and some people got ready to latch down the Delta Plus once it was down. He felt the cockpit shake a bit as he made a soft landing. As the crew moved to secure him, the catapult controller radioed, _"nicely done, Crux."_

"Thanks," he said. Then he called Seph. "You're up next, Dragon."

"Oh, right... copy that," Seph had to stop thinking so hard about this. This was just training, nothing more.

 _"Dragon, you're clear for approach. Initiating guidance."_ Seph lined up with the launch bay doorway and started to descend. He slowly spread his wings to full width to aid in his landing. He gulped nervously. _"Maintain your approach,"_ control radioed, _"looking good there."_

Seph slowed a bit, trying to keep in alignment as best he could. However, given his...condition..., he wasn't fully used to his new height yet, which was throwing off his trajectory a bit.

 _"You're coming in too fast, lower your speed,"_ the controller warned.

The Gundam yelped a bit and slowed a bit more, flaring his wings as wide as he could get them. He leaned back, pulsing his flight thrusters on his back to try and slow his speed. Chase watched Seph anxiously as he moved his Delta Plus aside. He really didn't want his passengers in the way of the rookie's flight path. The sentient Gundam slowly came in, his speed decreasing.

 _'He's getting the hang of it,'_ Chase thought to himself, _'I guess he'll make it through this stint with us.'_ Seph came in for a landing, but unfortunately failed to shut off the microthrusters, tripping and stumbling forward. The Gundam let out a surprised squeak as he staggered, tripping over his own two feet and crashing headfirst into the crash net. Chase had to stop his jaw from dropping at the less than graceful finish.

Seph struggled to get out of the crash net, but unfortunately he wound up getting tangled even further. He finally stopped squirming at seeing Chase's machine looking at him as if he had sprouted a tail. A flush dusted his face guard and he looked away. "Sorry..." he whined.

It was then that the controller sighed over the coms. _"You made it, but your landing needs work,"_ the flight controller said, _"standby for your next sortie."_

"Understood..." Seph muttered as he struggled. After a few minutes he waved a hand. "Uh... a little help here?"

Chase glanced at the passengers in both palms of the Delta Plus staring incredulously at what had just happened. He hummed to himself. He then radioed, "Bridge, have some MPs ready to receive our guest. I'm dropping him and our marines off to help Ensign Ray with his machine." He lowered the left arm of the Delta Plus to allow his passengers off.

Nigel just shook his head as he stepped off. "Quite a tangle he's in," he quipped, "good luck getting him out, Commander." Daryl and Watts snickered to themselves, as the marines and Alberto look on in incredulous wonder and amusement.

"Hey, Ensign," Chase radioed, " I'm going to hold you still so the guys can cut you loose. Don't move."

The Gundam let out a squeak at that and fell limp against the wall of the hangar as Chase's Delta Plus knelt down beside him, placing a hand on his free shoulder and the other on his untangled leg.

"Just... be careful of the wings..." he squeaked.

"Just don't move," Chase ordered as he held Seph down, "struggling with those wings will make it worse." Seph nodded and held as still as he could. "Alright," Chase looked to the recovery crew, "do your thing, but mind the wings."

Seph's optics pulsed with worry as he watched the techs and crew start crawling over his tangled frame. He struggled to keep his wings from twitching as one of them got a little too close to the joints. "Heheh..." Seph laughed slightly from the sensation, a subtle attempt to warn that tech who was cutting some of the net next to his left wing.

Chase noticed this as Seph shuddered a bit. Was the kid... _ticklish?_ He asked, "Seph, are you snickering?"

"I can't help it! My wings are ticklish!" the Gundam responded.

Chase grunted. The psychoframe seemed to be especially sensitive in the sensory output. He tightened the Delta Plus' grip on the Dracon. "Hey you," he prompted the techie cutting around the wings, "watch it with the wings. He's ticklish."

The techie blinked in surprise, but nodded as he resumed cutting, this time trying to be extra careful. The Gundam let out a quick sigh of relief, only to tense briefly before relaxing as best he could.

Chase smiled to himself. _'Landing was not perfect,'_ he thought, _'but we can probably get off easy with freeing Seph at least.'_

The techies finally finished cutting the net from around his frame, and Seph twitched in the Delta's grasp. Seeing that he was free, the Delta Plus pilot pulled the sentient Gundam to his feet.

"Thanks, Commander," Seph sighed in relief.

"Don't mention it," Chase replied, "though we can always work on your landings."

Seph looked down at his large metal feet, feeling his faceplate burning with embarrassment. "Yeah," he muttered.

"Hey," Chase encouraged, "carrier landings tend to be some of the trickiest landings for any pilot, be they aircraft or mobile suits. You'll get more practice and get better overtime."

"Yeah... if I don't trip," Seph moped as his shoulders sagged. "Landing like this..." Here he glanced down at his hands. "...is a lot harder than it seems."

"Hey," Chase said in a sympathetic tone, "I've seen far worse things happen to rookies on landing. At least you're tough enough to not end up as scrap."

Seph looked at him in confusion as he tilted his helm to the side briefly. "Uh... thanks...?"

Chase chuckled, "anyways, let's get our suits back in their cradles. I'll need to meet with Nigel and Bright in debriefing our new guest."

Seph actually shuddered. "Uh... can I not, sir? That thing is uncomfortable!" he protested.

"Ensign Kyle," Chase reminded as they started walking back into the hangar, "we're on a military base. It's against protocol to have mobile suits moving about without authorization."

Seph was about to protest again. "But..." His voice trailed off as he realized that some of the techs and crew were looking at him and he quieted his vocalizer, although he dreaded being back in an MS cradle.

"Fine..." he muttered. "Just wish they weren't so cramped..."

"You can have Tina adjust the cradle as needed," Chase reminded, "your care is what she's here for."

Seph nodded, feeling some sense of relief. Tina stood beside the cradle, waiting for him to enter it. In truth, Seph wished he didn't have to be in the thing. But he just had to suck it up and deal with it as best he could.

The Delta Plus and Dracon walked in from the airlock, both of them returning to their assigned cradles.

"All hands, secure mobile suits."

Seph nervously backed up into the assigned cradle and he winced as the gantries swung into position, locking his frame in tight. At least his wings weren't pinned against his back this time...

From his side, Seph watched as the Delta Plus was secured, and the cockpit hatch opened. Chase leapt out of the mobile suit, removing his helmet and exiting the hangar in due speed. The Gundam's wings twitched a little with envy. "Lucky..." he muttered.

Tina frowned as she and her supervised crew secured Seph. "You're lucky too, remember that," she reminded.

Tina looked up at Seph. "Think about it, had Londo Bell had not found and arrested you, you would have been killed by the Federation. As it is, they're the ones keeping you alive." She paused to look at some of her own fellow techies. "You're also keeping us alive, just by Londo Bell wanting to help you. Then there's that Revil guy, who seems awfully generous..." She had a wary tone about Colonel Revil, as she was still not sure of what to make of him.

"Uh..." Seph was genuinely confused, but at the same time he knew she had a point. He was basically being kept safe, and by extension, the others too. "I guess you got a point," he muttered. He looked down at the floor beneath his feet.

"So what's going to happen with the others on my team? Hunter, Martha, all of them?" Seph had not stopped thinking of them ever since that day. Chase hardly said a word about them, but Seph did not bother to ask until now.

Tina shrugged as she prepared to adjust the locks on the cradle to give Seph a bit more wiggle room. "I'm not sure," she said honestly.

Seph's optics dimmed as he emulated a sad expression. 'I hope they'll be alright... some of them were former Zeon after all.'

Tina felt a pang of sympathy for the Gundam. She slowly reached out a hand and hesitated before she laid it on the dark colored armor of his arm. Surprisingly the metal felt warm, compared to the usual cold metallic feel of a normal mobile suit. "Seph..." Tina breathed.

He glanced down at her, and he noticed her hand on his arm. His reactor leapt into his throat and he gulped softly. He felt his reactor increase its humming softly at her touch.

Both stared at each other for a moment.

"I don't know why," Tina smiled softly, "but I just have the feeling that Chase won't let anything happen to them..."

Seph for some reason found he couldn't speak at first. It felt like his vocalizer couldn't transform his thoughts into words, or like the programming was missing. Maybe it was because he was just entranced by her smile. It was so beautiful...

"Yeah... I think so too..." he murmured, not even realizing what she had said, only half listening to her speak.

_**End Chapter 5** _


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own Gundam Unicorn, Gundam Narrative, or the Gundam franchise. Chase Lee, Antares, and Johann Revil are among my OCs. Seph Matthews, Tina Hendricks, Dr. Lombardi, and Dr. Ming belong to Titanic X.**

* * *

**_Ra Cailum_ , Von Braun Lunar Base **

** September, UC 0097 **

Chase barreled through the hallways towards Bright's office, several crewmembers moving out of his way. He hurriedly reciprocated the salutes he got, but kept his focus on the meeting. _'So what's your game, Vist?'_ Chase wondered as he arrived outside of Bright's quarters. He opened the door, Chase could already see that Bright, Meran, and Nigel were all present, along with their 'guest', Alberto Vist.

"Ah. Good. Now we can begin," Bright noted.

It was then that Alberto turned to face Chase. "You must be the Delta Plus pilot who pulled us out of Anaheim."

Chase exhaled. "That's me." He was half expecting Vist to be his sniveling self by reputation.

Alberto was actually more relieved than sniveling. "And for that, I thank you, especially considering the cargo I have." He gave a glance at his tablet and that was all Chase needed to grasp.

Bright leaned forward. "Whoever is really pulling the strings with Anaheim and the Vist Foundation now," he began, "wanted you to make sure that you never came to us alive. What is it in that tablet that they wanted to kill you for?"

Chase looked to Bright. "With all due respect," he chimed in, "are you sure we can trust him? He was at the center of the Vist Foundation conspiracy."

Bright was silent. "While that may be true," he said, "if someone was willing to kill him for the information on that tablet, then it's safe to say that something else is going down." His eyes narrowed. "And we need to know who we can and cannot trust."

"For the record," Alberto dedended himself, "ever since the Laplace Declaration, I've been a marked man with a falling out with the group you all now know as the Noblesse."

Chase remained skeptical however. "For all I know, you could be a plant."

It was then that Bright's email notice rang from his computer. Bright arched an eyebrow before he brought up the email in question. It was an email from Colonel Revil.

_'Captain Bright,_

_I am well aware of 'Al' being brought aboard your ship. No one else besides us should know of this. My friend has sent him to you to relay important information. He can be trusted._

_Colonel Revil.'_

Bright looked to Alberto, then back to the email. He sighed, closing it down. "Okay. It seems you check out."

Alberto smiled. "Revil anticipated my arrival," he added, "don't worry, he'll cover for us until we have to leave port."

Bright nodded. "Right. So, what exactly do you have on that tablet?"

Alberto set it down and motioned for Bright to activate it. As Bright did, the tablet did a scan of the whole room. Given that he recognized the make of the tablet Revil used, Bright was less startled compared to Chase, Meran, and Nigel. "SCAN COMPLETE. NO SURVEILLANCE DEVICES FOUND." the text read. Once that was done, the tablet shifted its screen to show the contents.

The screen turned into a map of the entire Earth Sphere, then started to narrow in on a specific location.

"What is this?" Meran muttered.

"Side 3," Alberto dropped it, "that's where our missing query is."

Bright narrowed his eyes as he picked up the tablet.

Bright's eyes widened a bit as he recognized it. "The Magallanica?" he whispered.

Chase shook his head in surprise, while Nigel got up from his seat. "Wait, what?" Nigel questioned as he leaned over the pad.

Alberto smiled a bit as photographs surrounded the specific blip at Side 3.

Sure enough, nestled amongst the cluster of colonies, was the shape of the former colony builder. It was concealed inside a resource satellite, but Bright could make out Magallanica from the live footage of Industrial 7 just a year ago.

"That's where it's been hiding all this time, the Republic of Zeon," Bright said aloud.

"They've been there all this time?" Chase was floored at the revelation.

"Then," Nigel mused aloud, before looking at Alberto, "the Nahel Argama..."

Bright's eyes glimmered as he began to realize the implications. "He knew... Revil knew of where the Nahel Argama was..."

Chase walked up to Alberto, standing over him. "Alright, who is giving us this intel, and for what reason? What is going on here!?"

Alberto put his hands up defensively. "Hey, let me explain-"

However, Bright stepped in, giving Alberto a trusting look. "I got this," he assured as he faced his confused mobile suit commander. "Well, Commander, to put it simply... there is something bigger going on here than we originally thought," Bright began. Bright went on the explain the role of the Noblesse in the events leading up to the Laplace Declaration and the sealing away of the Unicorn Brothers, along with how they had shaped the events of the Universal Century, from the destruction of Laplace to the founding of Zeon itself. During the whole time, Chase's eyes went wide as Meran and Nigel fell silent, their mouths hanging open in their shock. Alberto meanwhile was serious as he looked at the group.

"Unfortunately, it's all true," Alberto admitted, "and I'm ashamed to admit that my aunt and myself were both members and pawns of the secret society, Noblesse. It's also how Zeon has continued to maintain ties within Anaheim itself. Many of the current Republic of Zeon officials are themselves members of the conspiracy, including Foreign Minister Bakharov and his father."

"So... then... who can we even trust?" Nigel wondered. "And how does that kid fit into this?" he added, referring to Seph down in the hangar bay.

Alberto grunted over the Gundam stored inside the hangar. "The Dracon is the latest of the Unicorn Gundam series. It was designed directly by its creator for the purpose of combating other psychomachines the Noblesse are planning to use."

"So a deterrent?" Meran asked.

"Correct," Alberto confirmed, "and even against the other Unicorns."

Bright looked to Chase, anticipating his question. "That's right..."

Chase spun back to Alberto. "You're telling me that there are still other units out there!?" He had a dreadful tone to his voice.

All the ex-executive could do was nod. "As you know, both the Unicorn and Banshee were present during the Laplace Declaration," Alberto explained, then followed up with, "tell me, Commander, what happened afterwards with those two Gundams?"

"They were dismantled," Chase responded. He then added with a somewhat skeptical tone, "at least that was the official report."

"Well... they were wrong," Alberto said, his tone becoming grim. He pointed to the image of Magallanica. "The Unicorn and the Banshee are stored aboard the Nahel Argama, inside Magallanica."

Chase shook his head, trying to stave off the headache from information overload. "But why go to such lengths," Chase asked, "to make us believe otherwise?"

Alberto hummed with a slight frown. "It's because they fear the Unicorn's power," he said.

Nigel just raised his him, Alberto was stating the obvious. "Who doesn't? We hardly can control, let alone understand what the Unicorn and its psychoframe are capable of," he said.

"It's not just that," Alberto said. "The Unicorn's power can do more than just what it did during the Laplace Incident."Here he paused before sighing. "What you need to understand is that the more people start to understand one another, the greater its power can become. That is what they fear the most."

"True, but have you also seen the kind of destruction those things are capable of," Chase objected, "I can still remember the destruction of Torrington from that mobile armor utilizing the psychoframe. Don't forget that Neo Zeon and the Titans have used them before as weapons of mass destruction." His gaze narrowed at Vist. "Many of those weapons were constructed by your own company, Mr. Vist," he reminded.

"Enough. What happened in the past happened in the past. What matters is how we deal with this going forward," Bright suddenly interjected. "And from what I can gather, that kid down in the hangar bay has something to do with this. So we need to focus on that... as well as how to uncover the truth behind the Noblesse and their objectives.

"But how can we know that the Unicorn series are even safe to handle," Chase pointed out, "I've already had to prevent a few meltdowns from Matthews."

Bright glared at Chase, not wanting him to reveal the full details of the kid's condition yet. But he looked to Alberto who shifted nervously before he began to speak. "Actually," Alberto began, "there is much about the psychoframe that has not been revealed, even to much of the Federation leadership."

Now everyone looked at him. "Hm?" Meran let out a questioning hum.

The former executive then tapped on his pad. "This is why the Noblesse are so desperate to destroy the Unicorn and its sister units." The group gathered around. Meran leaned in to see schematics of the psychoframe... or rather two psychoframes, Type G and Type O, with data indicating that the former was unique to the Unicorn series.

"The Unicorns... have this... Type G psychoframe?" Meran inquired.

"The Type G is actually the true form of psychoframe. The other type, termed Type O, is actually the more dangerous of the two because of the fact that it was machined within gravity, in comparison to the Type G which is machined solely in zero gravity. The Type O is, due to its machining, actually more unstable in comparison to Type G, which is far more stable," Alberto explained.

"How does this stability affect psychoframes?" Bright was now intrigued.

"Other Unicorns," Chase questioned, "wait a minute..."

"The stability makes them easier to control," Alberto answered. "If they are unstable, then they gain greater powers, but at a risk of becoming consumed by negative emotions. The Type G, which is more stable, can be controlled, and its power is drawn from the understanding that we humans are capable of." Then he looked down. "At least, according to the theories I was told..."

Chase's eyes widened. "You're kidding... really?"

Bright sighed. "He's right. The Type G is inherently more stable while the Type O, which is the type that was used by the Neo Zeong, is more powerful... and more dangerous," he concluded.

"Not only that, until the development of the Nu and Unicorn Gundams..." Alberto Vist dropped the next bomb, "every psycommu weapon, including the bio-sensor used inside the Zeta Gundam... you could say that they were actually pre-Type O psychoframes. That was why they were particularly destructive and detrimental to many of their pilots' minds." Now the group was stunned.

Bright in particular could not believe what he had heard. All this time, they had been dealing with unstable psycommus and psychoframes meant for one purpose: mass destruction, and the Unicorn was meant to be the weapon to counter them all. But there was one thing that was bothering him. "But why develop something so dangerous?" he asked.

Here Alberto was solemn. "To make Newtypes seem like demons..." he whispered. "...so they could justify their extermination and keep people in fear." He closed his eyes. "Because Newtypes of good heart and soul have the capability to break down the barriers of hostility and fear between the people around them."

Silence filled the room at that.

"Because that is the only way to expose them and reveal the depths of their corruption," Alberto added, "and with no Newtypes using the Type Genesis psychoframe to stop them, they will in due time develop even more powerful Type Oblivion psychoframes with their own controlled Newtype enforcers to use as weapons."

Now the truth was out, and it worried Bright. Chase himself frowned at the implications of what he was being told, and his mind drifted to the kid in the hangar bay. "The Dracon..." he whispered at last.

"The Unicorn's designer created it for the purpose of seeking out a Newtype who is able to find other Unicorns," Alberto revealed, "and either recapture or destroy them to keep them from falling into Noblesse hands. It's only as well that you Londo Bell pilots captured it before the Federation or Zeon could."

"More like capture the kid himself," Nigel muttered under his breath as he looked away.

"Okay..." Chase grimaced over the conspiracy he and Seph were caught in. "So... if we can trust you and this dource of yours," he asked, "what are you expecting us to do?"

Alberto hummed to himself. He then faced Chase. "The pilot of the Dracon," he said, "he was able to activate the NT-D, correct?"

Chase was flabbergasted that Alberto knew of that. But then he brushed it aside and became serious. "Yes, he was..." His voice trailed off in wariness.

"If so, then it's all the more reason to brief him on the situation," Alberto stated, "if he's going to pilot the Dracon, he needs to know what he's gotten himself into. Can you bring him here?"

Bright, Chase, and Nigel all looked at one another nervously. "Um... There's a bit of an issue with that..." Nigel said, looking at Bright for some ideas or help.

The veteran captain pursed his lips. There was no point hiding it from Alberto.

"Actually... to be frank, the kid can't be brought here, and for a good reason," Chase began. Time to reveal. "He _is_ the Gundam." Silence fell again upon the room.

Alberto was silent before he blinked. "S-Surely you're joking," he remarked.

"I'm afraid not," Bright chimed in with a headshake.

The former executive stared in shock, sympathy crossing his face. "How did that happen? What's his condition?"

Chase grunted. "Best that you see for yourself..."

* * *

**In the hangar...**

Seph squirmed a bit in his cradle, trying to get somewhat comfortable, although the sensation of being locked in was not something he enjoyed.

Dr. Lombardi was also present with Tina, working on a panel connected to Seph's frame. He and Tina were working to analyze traces of the virus that got Seph stuck inside the Unicorn Gundam unit. The sentient Gundam had to admit, being in the same proximity as Lombardi was enough to make his systems crawl. It was all he could do to suppress a shudder that wracked his frame.

Lombardi stared at the diagram of the system architecture. "Hmm... that virus did a number on the Neuro-Link's synapse regulators and the analysis interfaces. It hardly resembles anything we can read at this point."

"Yeah," Tina noted. "There's no way we can have it repaired in a few months."

Seph didn't quite understand the technobabble, but the way the two spoke indicated that he would be stuck like this for quite some time.

"Take a look at this though," Tina pointed, "can you see how the system is less organized and more organic-looking?"

"Yes. That must've been from when the backflow lodged his mind inside the module," Lombardi mused.

Tina scratched her head. "This is DEFINITELY going to be a lot of trouble..."

Seph looked to Tina. "So... what exactly does that mean for me?" he asked, shifting nervously.

Tina sighed as she looked up. "It means that we're no longer dealing with conventional computer architecture in the traditional artificial sense..."

The Gundam let out a questioning hum as he tilted his helm to the side in confusion. "Uh...English?"

It was Lombardi who answered, "basically, we're looking at the Dracon not as a machine per se; with the psychoframe's properties melding you with the Neuro-Link System, the Gundam has essentially become a psuedo-human body of sorts. It could mean that you now have a symbiotic link to your mobile suit."

Seph began to shake a bit. "Y-You mean I could be stuck like this... forever?!" he squeaked.

"That at worst," Lombardi indicated, "or far better, you could be returned to your human body, but because your brainwave patterns seem to have become some strange synthesis of human and machine patterns, you'd need cybernetic implants to return. In that scenario, you'd still maintain some sort of connection to the Dracon, but we're not entirely sure at this moment."

"Anything's better than being stuck like this forever!" Seph blurted, unaware that some certain people were coming in at that point.

"Woah!" Seph heard a sudden shout. His head snapped over in the direction of the speaker, and he felt his reactor hitch in his chest. "Oh... crud..." he squeaked, spotting the group. Chase hardly reacted, even as Alberto made sounds of surprise.

"Y-You weren't kidding..." Alberto finally managed to stutter out.

From his perspective, the Gundam's violet optics were locked onto them, and the machine itself shook a bit in its cradle. That right there was proof of their claim alone.

"Meet Ensign Kyle Ray," Chase introduced, "alias for Joseph Matthews."

The former executive could now see that the boy was nervous, if not scared. He felt a pang of sympathy for him. He opened his mouth, but couldn't find the words to speak to the kid.

"Joseph, I'm sure you recognize Alberto Vist?" Bright asked.

The Gundam felt his reactor leap into his throat and he gulped, but nodded.

True enough, his HUD did a scan of the group, revealing the portly man in the middle as a high-ranking Anaheim executive. Now Seph was nervous, knowing Anaheim's reputation. His reactor began to increase its humming in his chest and he started to shake a bit more. "H-Hello...?" he managed to squeak out.

Alberto regained his composure, straightening his posture and collar. He then faced the sentient Gundam with a more serious expression. "You must be the pilot... or Gundam that's been giving Commander Lee a run for his money."

Seph flushed a beet red at that. "Yeah..." he admitted, looking down at his feet.

Alberto hummed a bit with a slight smile to try and lighten the mood. "I was informed of your predicament, and to start things off on a better note, I wish to express my sympathies for what happened to you."

"Thanks," Seph muttered. Then he looked at him directly. "So... why are you here?"

Alberto glanced to Bright, who nodded in agreement. Chase then took Alberto up towards the gantry around the Dracon's cradle.

Seph squirmed a little, trying to remain calm. He gulped softly as the two approached him at optic level.

Alberto turned to face Lombardi and Tina. "You two can stay for this, as it concerns what's happened to the boy," Alberto said. Tina nodded, as did Lombardi. He then looked the sentient Gundam in the optics. Taking a deep breath, Alberto spoke, "I don't have the details of what happened with you on your test flight, and I probably don't want to know it all."

Seph nodded, feeling somewhat at ease. At least this man was considerate of his feelings. "Yeah. It's something I don't want to even relive..."

"However," Alberto continued, "before transmission was cut, the Dracon did send data of you activating the NT-D just as you were being pursued. You did that despite all the safety limiters placed on the software."

Here Seph's faceplate turned a beet red beneath his face guard. "I was scared..." he muttered.

The former executive stroke his chin. "For someone scared," he remarked, "you've got some power to break all those limiters and unleash the Dracon. In a sense, the Neuro-Link still served its purpose."

Seph was now confused. "What do you mean?" he asked, tilting his helm to the side inquisitively.

Tina too was confused, but Dr. Lombardi had a knowing expression to him.

"The Neuro-Link Project was never meant to actually spur the development of unmanned mobile suits," Alberto explained, "not in totality anyways..."

"Wait..." Seph began to get a bad feeling in his gut at this. "What... what was its real purpose then?" His wings twitched a bit.

Alberto paused for a bit, before finally saying it. "It was a way to search for a suitable pilot for the Dracon."

"... So...this whole time, it was just a ruse to find a pilot?" Seph asked, feeling a bit angered. His wings bristled as loudly as they could in the locks.

Dr. Lombardi spoke out, "I'm sorry, but it was our way of assessing potential pilots without the risk of them stealing or activating the Dracon's NT-D inside a traditional cockpit. Using the Neuro-Link was meant to be a fail-safe."

"Well, some good that it did... Now I'm stuck like this!" Seph grumped.

"Seph," Lombardi protested, "someone hijacked the Neuro-Link, remember!?"

"Oh... Right..." Seph looked down.

"The Neuro-Link was supposed to be a means to prevent such an incident from occurring, but seeing as how you're now the Gundam, it means that only you can activate the NT-D," Lombardi continued.

"As such," Alberto concluded, "only you are capable of controlling the Dracon as is, and you already show a great amount of power and potential for the mission it's meant for."

"What kind of mission?" Seph asked, narrowing his optics beneath his visor.

"Dr. Lombardi, what is going on," Tina herself was confused, as she and the others were not in on the secret.

The engineer sighed. Now was the time to tell them everything.

"The Dracon's first mission, is to recover the Unicorn and Banshee," the doctor revealed.

Seph was stunned. "Wait... You want me to go out and _find_ those two? Weren't they dismantled?" he asked.

"You're joking," Tina said with wide eyes.

"Afraid not, kids," it was Chase who spoke up. He grimaced as he looked Seph in the optics. "Hate to tell you all that someone feed us a tray full of fake news."

"So... we were lied to this whole time? Why?!" Seph blurted. He then narrowed his heated gaze on Alberto. He loudly strained in his cradle.

"The reason for the lies is simple: to make Newtypes out to be the enemy... All of them..." Alberto said, trying not to cower away from the Gundam.

Seeing how delicate the situation was, Chase held his hand out. "Seph," he coaxed.

The Gundam looked to Chase and then huffed through his vents. He relaxed, though he still felt miffed at having been lied to.

"If it helps," Chase huffed, "Bright and I actually bought that bogus stuff. We're just processing everything Vist here is telling us."

"Guess I'm not the only one," Seph muttered.

"Hold on. Why do you want the two Unicorns to be retrieved?" Tina asked finally. "And how can Seph do that when he has little control over his own NT-D?"

Alberto composed himself a bit before continuing, "it is because the people who tried to kill me, want the Unicorn and Banshee for themselves, along with their pilots, Banagher Links and Riddhe Marcenas."

"So... it's to keep them from getting that power..." Seph mused. He glanced down at his own hands, or one of them, and flexed it. "Like..." His voice trailed off as he shivered and gulped audibly.

"And how is the kid supposed to retrieve them when he can't even control his own NT-D?" Nigel asked.

Alberto sighed. "Yes. That is an issue," he admitted. "But since he is the Gundam now, it should be a matter of getting him to control it properly."

"Yeah, especially with his lack of combat experience," Nigel snidely remarked. This earned him a glare from Chase.

"So, what's gonna happen with me then?" Seph asked Bright.

"You are already part of Londo Bell, Ensign Kyle Ray," Bright reminded, "and based on Vist's latest intel, we can expect even more action going forward very soon."

Seph looked down. "Oh..." His optics dimmed a bit beneath his visor.

Bright then looked to Alberto, who nodded in the affirmative. "In the meantime," Alberto said, "it's time I brought you all up to speed on the threat of the Noblesse."

"Uh... Okay. I'm confused now." Seph twitched a hand as if he wanted to scratch at his helmet in confusion. "Who are these Noblesse, anyway?"

Alberto's expression grew grim. "They are the reason why the Universal Century is what it is..."

* * *

** EFF  Rocky Mountains Supermax Prison Camp,  Colorado, North America **

In her cell, Martha Vist Carbine looked at her reflection in the mirror above the sink. She looked rather haggard, with hardly any of the finesse and proud status she held as the head of the Vist Foundation just over a year ago. "So much for trying to uphold Federation values..." she muttered to herself.

She had done everything right by the Federation and the Noblesse she was once a high-ranking member of. However, with the Laplace Declaration, her past accomplishments were wiped away, and those who were once her allies were nowhere to be found. Now she was just a disgraced prisoner at the mercy of the very political system she once upheld, and she knew why.

Banagher Links and his allies, but she knew something they did not. "They only want me alive, because they are missing the Phenex," she told herself. However, she knew it was only a matter of time before they found out about it. And then Martha herself would be killed.

Of course, no one was aware of the large shape huddled behind some trees, observing the exterior of the detention center.

* * *

Antares positioned his stealth ReZEL D in a secure position as he verified Martha's location via thermal. Normally this would have been a tricky task slipping his MS through the Federation no-fly zone, but the ReZEL D's passive and active stealth measures made it quite easy and quiet. "Target located..." he muttered to himself.

* * *

**_Flashback_ **

_Antares stood before the desk of Dr. Ming, his eyes wide. Sure he knew his mission was to reinforce the Ra Cailum and act as an observer, but to be given a secondary mission as well? He still didn't like the fact he had to retrieve Martha Vist Carbine from prison, but given the circumstances, it was necessary, Dr. Ming told him._

_"But... why?" Antares asked._

_"To make sure that none of their plans come to fruition," the old engineer replied. His eyes narrowed. "She knows more about their plans than anyone else. And that kind of knowledge they are going to kill to keep secret. If we get there first... then we can use that knowledge against them, and slowly bring them out into the open. War always means to use whatever assets you can. Including spies. Or in this case, former members."_

_Antares finally grasped what his superior was saying, even if he didn't fully understand the background._

_"I'll do my best, sir!" he replied with a thumbs up._

* * *

**Present**

It had been a few days since Ming had him discreetly transported back to Earth. Upon reaching his operation area, he received information regarding a secretive transfer of Martha from this prison to an undisclosed location. Based on the intel from a repentant source inside the government, the Federation and their Noblesse backers were wanting to make her disappear for good to prevent details about the Phenex from leaking out. Antares' job was to make sure that did not happen. There was no way they could get her, least of all the knowledge of the Phenex. Antares narrowed his eyes as he prepared to make his move to retrieve the target.

"They'd better move her soon," he muttered, "otherwise I'll be spotted sooner or later. No sooner had he said that than he spotted a few vehicles moving in towards the facility. "Oh... Looks like they're right on time," he mused. He brought up his mission clock, which was counting down to the time when he would have to act. Antares had only one shot to do this. He slowly breathed in and out, keeping his eyes on the main monitor.

* * *

Martha was aroused from her daydreaming by a loud creak. She looked up, and her eyes narrowed as the door to her cell opened.

"Ms. Martha," a Federation agent greeted her with a guard, "please come with us."

The former Vist Foundation executive stood up and prepared to leave with them. As they walked, Martha decided to ask. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to be transferring you to a more secure facility," the guard said, keeping his weapon trained on her at all times.

"Is there a reason?" Martha probed. She had a gut feeling about why, but wanted to hear it nonetheless.

"Why, for your safety of course," the agent leading her said with a creepy smile, "we can't have a material witness having something bad happen to her now, can we?"

Martha shuddered at that, knowing the implicit threat behind the superficially kind words.

* * *

The former Londo Bell pilot watched as the vehicles pulled up, with their escorts Jegans, Ankshas, and Gustav Karls. He gripped the controls tightly. It was now or never. The clock continued to count down as he anticipated Martha showing up on thermal with whatever guards were escorting her. He did not have to wait long.

One by one, Antares started to see the guards and federal agents filing out. "Come on," he muttered, "show me the prize..." Then he saw her. In the middle of the group was Martha Vist Carbine.

"There she is," Antares said to himself, just as the clock neared zero. He powered up the thrusters as he prepared for his surprise attack. He didn't even waste a second; as soon as the clock hit zero, he made his move.

"Let's do this!" Antares made his ReZEL D leap forth from the tree line, zeroing in on Martha. As he flew towards her position, Antares primed one of the EMP grenades specifically mounted for this mission.

Martha and her captors flinched at the sight of a dark colored ReZEL sporting blue optics. "Get the mobile suits into the air!" one of the guards yelled.

The ReZEL hovered next to the troop transport meant for Martha, blasting its thrusters with enough power to knock over the transport and everyone to the ground. Martha hit the floor as the ReZEL landed next to her.

"Stop him, open fire," the lead Federation agent ordered the mobile suit escorts.

Antares moved swiftly before the guards could react. The mobile suits were caught off guard by the suddenness of his attack.

"Too bad your electronics aren't shielded like mine," Antares remarked as he deployed the EMP grenade from his left arm launcher. Grabbing it with his right arm, he primed the grenade to go off on contact and reared it back to slam onto the ground.

Martha's eyes widened as she braced herself for what she thought was an explosive. She ducked down, only for the "explosive" to go off. She felt nothing, but around her she could hear the sparking of machinery as it overloaded and shorted out. She looked up. The mobile suits other than the black ReZEL began to creak and groan loudly as electricity arced all over their frames, shorting them out with their optics visibly fading. It was then that the unaffected mystery MS turned to face her. She squeaked as the machine knelt. ** _  
_**

The ReZEL then extended a metal hand in a savior-like gesture.

"Come with me if you want to live," the pilot beckoned on loudspeaker.

"What do you want?" Martha asked, wary now. Who was this man, and had the Noblesse sent him?

"No time, just get on," the ReZEL pilot boomed.

It was then that the guards who were not knocked out began aiming their rifles at the two. Martha pursed her lips, but decided to take a chance. She scrambled into his mobile suit's hand just as the other was lowered to act as a shield against the bullets.

Antares safely raised her in his ReZEL's hands to cockpit level. Opening the hatch, he was greeted by the sight of the former Vist Foundation head in her prisoner's jumpsuit. Shaking off the thought of the irony, Antares pointed to the booster seat installed for his passenger. "Welcome to Antares' Private Airline," he joked.

Rolling her eyes, the ex-executive clambered into the seat and buckled in. The radar alert went off as Antares closed the hatch. Three Ankshas were airborne and two minutes out from intercepting him. "No point sticking around," Antares said as he looked to Martha, "hold on tight." She braced for the coming flight.

The agents and soldiers continued to shoot, but with all their heavy weapons and MS disabled by the EMP, they were of no consequence to Anatres as his thrusters powered up. The ReZEL took flight, leaving the detention center behind. As he reached altitude, the veteran pilot transformed the MS into its stealthy Wave Rider mode, and went into supercruise to gain speed.

To Martha, this was completely crazy. And how could she even trust this man? But he had bailed her out of being transferred... So perhaps... maybe he wasn't working for the Noblesse...

She hoped.

Antares could see that the Ankshas were in pursuit of his ReZEL, but because the D model had improved thrusters and aerodynamics over the ReZEL C, he was easily outpacing the clunkier mobile suits in their mobile armor modes. His eyes narrowed as he started to weave through the air, aiming for the mountains ahead. His hands gripped the controls tightly, his breath remaining controlled despite the tension in his body.

It was then that the radar alert rang again. Three additional mobile suits appeared on the radar, which the sensors identified as ReZEL Cs. They were faster than the Ankushas, and were just above and behind him. "We've got company," Antares remarked. Martha looked at the radar screen and she squeaked in terror. The Federation ReZELs barrel rolled down towards Antares.

"Hold on, I'll lose them," Antares reassured as he maneuvered towards a valley. Antares narrowed his eyes as he zeroed in on the mountains. Maybe he could lose them there...

A beam flashed by the ReZEL D. Martha winced at how close the beam had come to them. Antares ignored the flash as he flew, though.

"Hardly close," he said, "they're not as accurate with this D model's reduced cross section..." His eyes were hard as he pushed his machine to its limits. The ReZEL D rocketed through the canyons as the ReZEL Cs tried to follow. Martha looked back out of concern and worry. Would they make it?

"What are you going to do?" Martha looked to Antares, whose face was concealed behind the tinted visor.

"Don't worry," Antares said, "this is perfect."

She wasn't too sure if this was a good idea, but seeing as how he had bailed her out of the detention center, she decided to take a chance and trust in him.

The enemy ReZELs continued to fire upon Antares' ReZEL, which proved a very nimble unit. Antares smirked behind his helmet. He then tapped on the panel for the ReZEL D's countermeasures. There was something very special he had. Martha watched in wariness. What was he going to do? He suddenly began slowing down rapidly.

"What are you doing?!" Martha blurted.

"Just trust me!" Antares said as he steadied his thumb on the trigger for the countermeasures.

Martha was very tempted to grab the controls, but she held back. Like she had any other choices now.

She pursed her lips and grabbed the edges of her seat.

The enemy lock on alert rang loudly just as the ReZEL Cs ganged up on the ReZEL D.

"Now!" Antares tapped on the countermeasures, causing the pods on the wing roots to jettison a blinding metallic cloud.

Martha was surprised at this. The metallic cloud seemed to be blinding the ReZEL Cs, as they were weaving and trying to avoid colliding with one another. Antares then transformed into MS mode and took the opportunity to fly in another direction. He landed inside a narrow ravine covered with trees and knelt.

"Activate Autistic Mode," he commanded. The cockpit then turned dim as the ReZEL D's thrusters and weapons shut off. The sensors and radar also shut off as the reactor activity slowed, leaving only the main camera to run. Externally, the mobile suit's optics dimmed, leaving it almost completely black with its surroundings.

The former executive looked at the man who had saved her. "What's going on?" she asked.

"That was a radar diffusion scatter cloud I used," Antares said, "it messes with radar to allow this D model to make quick escapes. We're now in Autistic Mode so they can't track my electronic and heat signature through the stealth coating."

Martha hated to admit it, but his plan had been impressive. Not that she would admit it, of course. The ReZEL Cs flew out of the cloud, but in the wrong direction. Antares and Martha watched as their pursuers scattered around in confusion, having lost their target. Martha couldn't help but smirk. Something about seeing them fly around in confusion just amused her slightly. Antares watched as the enemy started to fly away in various directions. The Federation was unable to detect his ReZEL D.

"Alright," Antares said, "we should be able to make the rendevous with my allies in Galveston." A quick check of his radar ensured that they were clear. Within minutes he lifted off the ground and sped off to the rendezvous point.

"This is Antares," he spoke on a special channel, "I have the package. I'll meet you all at the designated rendezvous point for transit in two hours."

"Copy Antares," an agent on the other side said, "your ferry is ready for pick up. Safe flight."

Martha finally took the time to settle back and gazed around. She had expected to be assassinated... not rescued by someone. Unless it was an assassination that was to take place in silence.

"Thank goodness I showed up before the Noblesse or Luio & Company could make their moves with you," Antares suddenly said, "they nearly did in your nephew just yesterday."

Her eyes widened. "How do you even know about that?!" Martha asked harshly. "What do you know of Alberto, and who are you?!"

Antares held out his hand. "Slow your horses," he said, "he's alright. A Londo Bell team rescued him from Anaheim. I can assure you that I'm not with the Noblesse. My boss sent me to prevent them from making you disappear."

"Oh? Why would anyone want to save me?" Martha asked, her eyes narrowing.

Antares looked at the woman through his visor. "Your knowledge of the Noblesse's inside workings is valuable," he was straight forward, "and not to mention that you have connections with the pilots of the Unicorn and Banshee, Banagher Links and Riddhe Marcenas."

Martha's breath was nearly taken, not just by Antares' uttering knowledge of the Noblesse and the Unicorn Brothers, but his even and calm tone about them."That... is true..." she mused. "Who sent you?"

Antares mused to himself. He then decided that since Martha was going to meet 'him' anyways, she had the right to know. "My boss...is the one who actually developed the psychoframe to begin with," he began. "He is the one who sent me."

"Dr. Ming?" For once, Martha was gobsmacked. Her mouth fell open in shock.

Antares chuckled and nodded at her question. "Yes. The one and only. Ming knew all along. He's very sharp for his age."

"Knew everything?" Martha asked as the ReZEL continued its flight.

"Yes, including how the Noblesse authorized the Federation's test flight of the third Unicorn unit, the Phenex."

Now Martha began to understand. Dr. Ming had known everything from the start. Why he wanted to save her though... was he planning something? "So what would he want with me and Alberto?" Martha ventured to ask.

Antares clarified, "you two know more about them than anyone. And that... makes you a threat to their ambitions. So Dr. Ming has started making plans to bring them out into the open... and exposing them for the hypocrites they are." He paused for a bit to see Martha frown a bit at the mention of her past history before continuing. "Now that you've fallen out of favor with them, it's unlikely they'll simply let the both of you be. Furthermore, they're already making plans to take the Unicorn Gundam units and the secrets they possess for themselves. Should that happen, nothing will stop them from ruling the Universal Century for the next one hundred years."

Martha scowled. "And if that happens, then it's all over, am I right?" she asked.

"You would probably know," Antares quipped, "and they have agents in the Federation and Zeon to make that happen."

Martha's eyes narrowed. "Why though? Why bring them out into the open?" She could not see his expression, but he said in an incredulous tone of voice.

"Well, they didn't exactly do you any favors locking you up like that," the veteran replied, "so are you really obligated to keep their secrets now?"

Martha pondered his answer, then shook her head. "No. Not now," she said.

"My point exactly," Antares concluded. With that, the rest of the flight was silent as he continued to fly towards Galveston to the south.

**_End Chapter 6_ **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own Gundam Unicorn, Gundam Narrative, or the Gundam franchise. Chase Lee, Antares, and Johann Revil are among my OCs. Seph Matthews, Tina Hendricks, Dr. Lombardi, and Dr. Ming belong to Titanic X.**

* * *

**Three days after Martha Vist Carbine's disappearance...**

**Side 3, Republic of Zeon**

Darcia Bakharov pondered as he watched the birds outside of his mansion. His eyes fixed on them, and for a moment, he felt envious of them. They didn't have to worry about the potential for assassination by his former allies, the Noblesse. they could just fly and enjoy themselves. The mansion itself was a gilded cage, as his son was part of the accursed group, and had the house under tight watch. If only he could make amends somehow for all the chaos they put people through... Or maybe do something to disrupt their plans...

It was ironic... Darcia helped carry out Degwin's hopes of negotiating peace with the Federation... and now his son was exploiting his Noblesse connections for his own warmongering ends. He wondered if there was any way he could redeem himself for his actions in this whole mess. He sighed as he pondered his future.

 _'Won't be long before they make their move to seize Magallanica...'_ Darcia thought. He knew from his inside government connections about Magallanica, and the fact that Mineva Lao Zabi and her followers were being holed up in the colony builder. Personally, he wished in some way to warn her. He could see that now the future of the Universal Century hung in the hands of the next generation, but that his 'old friends' wanted to stop change from coming. _'Ironic, that Zeon itself is a tool for their ambitions...'_ he thought.

Little did the former prime minister of Zeon realize that his chance for redemption was about to come in by mail... literally. He glanced back, hearing the knock at his bedroom door. Curious, he walked over and opened it. The aide standing there held in her hands some mail for him. "Your mail, sir," she said.

Darcia took it. "Thank you." As the aide left, Darcia found himself curious at the sight of the envelope. It was the first letter he received in ages. With modern digital communications these days, people did not usually write letters unless it was for very special reasons. Darcia slowly pried it open, and his eyes widened at the contents. It looked like a bunch of gibberish, but he knew all too well what it contained.

 _'This is the Enigma Code from the old Principality of Zeon,'_ he realized. Knowing what to do, he went to his bookshelf. Clearing away some books, he unveiled a safe and began to work the combination. It didn't take him long to get the safe open. Within minutes he had the decoder machine and code book out and was working away at the code.

 _'Clever that they wrote this in a code that has been all but forgotten,'_ Darcia mused, _'but who would write to me, and why?'_ He got his answer less than fifteen minutes later.

 _'It's an email address,'_ he realized, and there was a set of instructions with an introduction from the writer.

"Dr. Ming...?" Darcia was confused. He knew Ming to be the head of his Newtype research thinktank, that both Zeon and the Federation respected. But why would he send him a message, and in code, at that? Darcia frowned as he started to read the letter.

'Greetings Former Prime Minister,

If you received this message, then things are getting quite dire. Send the following code to the designated email address...'

Darcia frowned, but decided to do as requested in the letter. He went to turn on his computer. Accessing his private email, he frowned upon remembering that it was likely being monitored by his staff. So he had to try something else. Darcia pursed his lips. There was another way. He just thought he'd never have to use it again.

He slowly brought up a second window on the computer and activated a secret program meant to reply to any shadow emails sent to him in the Enigma Code. "Alright, let's see what your game is, Ming," Darcia muttered to himself. The computer took a minute or two to boot up. He was still amazed that it could work after all these eighteen years.

The email flashed, and he was in the hidden network. It was then that the screen flashed with a text messaging request from none other than Dr. Ming. Darcia typed up a response. 'I am here,' he typed cautiously.

'I see you got my message,' came the reply.

Darcia frowned. 'What do you want,' he replied.

'As I have said in my message, things are getting dire,' Dr. Ming typed up. 'The Noblesse are after the Unicorns... as I am sure you are aware.'

Darcia was floored. He typed furiously, 'how did you know of the Noblesse!? Who are you!?'

'I am a friend. As for how I know...it has taken me years to discern the truth. I have always found it strange that the colonists had no representation, least of all how this came about. So I delved into the unknown after the terrorist attack... and discovered who was really behind the scenes. Be warned, Minister. The Noblesse are everywhere.'

'I know that,' Darcia typed back. He rolled his eyes at Ming stating the obvious.

'Then you will know this. The Noblesse are planning something... to keep the truth from coming out... You must warn Mineva. And her allies as well.' Dr. Ming's email carried with it an unseen urgency in those words.

Darcia agreed to the urgency of that moment, but sweat ran down his face, praying that these communications were secure. 'I am currently under watch by my own staff,' he wrote, 'as you probably know, my own son is Noblesse, but that is so that he can revive Zeon for his own ambitions. However, if Princess Mineva and I make the wrong moves, we'd have to contend with both Zeon and the Federation coming after us.'

'For the moment,' came the reply. 'Rest assured though, there will be a time when the people of both Earth and space will have to make their choices. And that choice, I pray, will be made once the Noblesse are brought out into the open. To do so... it would be to finally bring about the redemption of the Deikun family name... as well as release the truth that the Zabi family also was framed in the death of Prime Minister Marcenas when the Universal Century first began.'

Darcia stopped as his mind went back to his final days with Degwin before the latter's untimely demise.

* * *

_**Flashback** _

_**Dec. 29, UC 0079** _

_Degwin Zabi and Darcia Bakharov stood together, both alone in the latter's private office._

_"Darcia... Things will soon take a turn for the worse..." Degwin said solemnly._

_The prime minister of Zeon turned towards his sovereign. "That is why you wish to negotiate with the Federation for an end to this war," he said._

_Degwin nodded. "But that is only part of this..."_

_"Oh... your son..." Darcia frowned at the thought of Supreme Commander Gihren Zabi. He and Degwin shared their mutual concerns about Gihren's lust for power and total war that would bring the downfall of Zeon if he was not stopped._

_Degwin only nodded. "But there is a greater danger afoot..."_

_"What do you mean?" Darcia could think of no greater danger than the eldest Zabi son who wanted to emulate the dictators of the 20th century._

_"All I can say is that there is a grand force at work that has been shaping the Universal Century to what it is now..." Degwin sighed, "and to my eternal regret, I have been a part of this scheme in my shortsightedness."_

_Darcia's eyes widened. "What... what are you saying?"_

_Degwin looked to Darcia with solemness. "Prime Minister," he said, "it's time I told you a secret that has troubled the Zabi family since the beginning of this century."_

_As such, Degwin gave his heartfelt confession and revelation of the Noblesse to his faithful prime minister, just a day before his assassination by his own Gihren's hands..._

* * *

**Present**

'Degwin...' Darcia remembered his friend, who was sad and repentant to the end. His email beeped and he turned back to the present situation at hand.

'I am currently downloading relevant information regarding the Noblesse, as well as previously unseen psychoframe research the group tried to cover up.' The email flashed as a download bar appeared on his screen.

"What's this," Darcia muttered. The data that popped up on his screen made his face go pale.

The data that streamed across the data was... to put it bluntly, startling. The fact that there had been _two_ types of psychoframe all along was startling enough, but to learn that there had been mobile suits developed with the Type O psychoframe was disturbing. And add in the fact that the Laplace's Revelation of the true Universal Century charter wasn't doing as much as Dr. Ming had hoped only led to the confirmation that the Noblesse had something to fear regarding Newtypes.

 _'This is far deeper than I had ever imagined,'_ Darcia realized, _'and the Noblesse and Newtypes are at the center of it...'_ Now he was beginning to understand what was at stake. Newtypes were what the Noblesse feared. Mostly because of their ability to promote understanding and peace by breaking down centuries' worth of lies as told by the organization. And the Unicorns held a part that made them the targets of the enemy.

Darcia now REALLY needed to let Mineva Zabi know about this... but the Noblesse and his son had eyes on him wherever he went. It was then that the shadow email beeped again. Ming was uploading something else. Darcia's eyes widened in surprise at the contents of this next download.

It was a program, and Ming put the following description:

'This program will cover up your true identity. As long as it is active, your face will not be seen on any electronic surveillance equipment your home has been bugged with. The spoof program will also work for the rest of Side 3's colony surveillance systems.'

So Ming was intending for him to escape, he figured. Perhaps to warn Mineva in person. Darcia responded. 'Understood.' He looked to see that there was an execution command for the spoof program. He clicked on it, and watched as the virus uploaded itself into the surrounding network. He waited for a few minutes to make sure it would work as intended.

It was then that Ming wrote back, 'I have confirmation. You are now officially a ghost on cameras.'

Darcia smiled. 'Thank you, Dr. Ming,' he typed.

Now that he was essentially invisible electronically, he needed to get out without being seen visually. The best bet Darcia could think of was a disguise. And he had a few of those in case he needed to avoid the press every now and then.

It was then that the email flashed one more time. 'If you are able to sneak out...' Darcia looked at the email as he watched it finish typing. '... I hired an old escort of yours to rendezvous with you. You will recognize him when you see him. Please do not be late. Godspeed.' Darcia cut the connection and then proceeded to gather up some stuff for a trip... so to speak. He pulled out one of his disguises and got it on.

 _'I hope I still have what it takes,'_ Darcia thought as he put on his fedora, wig, and shades. He took one last glance around before he left the room, closing the door shut behind him. He walked the halls of his gilded prison quietly, watching for guards that would try to stop him.

'I better still not speak, in case the audio devices pick up my voice,' the disguised Darcia thought as he made his way down the the basement, avoiding staffers and guards along the way. The basement entrance loomed just ahead.

'I hope they didn't find and bug the exit...' Darcia finally entered the basement. He knew of one way to escape, which no one else knew of. He stopped close to the entrance of the hidden tunnel. Pressing on a secret panel, there was a bit of a squeaking sound. Darcia winced a bit as the old escape slowly creaked open. _'Note to self. If I live through this, oil the hinges once a month,'_ he thought as he crept inside. As the door closed behind him, Darcia made his way through the old, but functional escape tunnel.

Now all he had to do was meet his old friend, and then he could get out alive.

* * *

**Abandoned Colony Hangar**

Hidden within the shadows a humanoid figure crouched, optical visor pulsing as it scanned the surroundings. "The boss did say he'd be coming through here..." the veteran MS pilot muttered.

The old hangar was eerily quiet, and Ford Romfellow was not too keen on the eerie silence. But he did have a mission to complete. His eyes flicked to the main monitor to check once more.

And he was rewarded when he saw a familiar shape come out of the old door. "There..." the man was disguised, but Ford knew from his briefing from Dr. Ming that the man was Darcia Bakharov, the former Zeon prime minister. It was towards the end of the One Year War that Ford met him as a Federation Gundam ace. Just shortly after the Battle of A Baoa Qu, he and his former ship, the _Thoroughbred_ , escorted the former enemy prime minister to the peace talks on Granada to end that war, when the Zeon remnants tried to assassinate Darcia.

Ford hummed to himself. "I'd better make sure." He waited until Darcia had approached his machine, and he scanned all around using his thermal and infrared sensors. The ex-Federation pilot found no signs of pursuers in the vicinity. Now seeing that it was safe, he lowered his stealthy ReZEL D to its knees and extended his right arm. The old former PM silently regarded the black-colored ReZEL for a bit, before he got onto the mobile suit's hand.

"Good. We're leaving now." Ford stood his machine up, slowly lifting the hand up to the cockpit.

Darcia looked up in wonder at the ReZEL D, as he did not know of this particular model. The pilot lifted the hand up to the cockpit and it opened. "Darcia Bakharov," Ford greeted.

Darcia blinked his eyes upon seeing who it was. His mouth was slightly open as he recognized the pilot. Darcia let out a laugh. "Ford Romfellow!" he remarked with a smile.

Ford blinked at Darcia's reaction. "Y-you remember me?"

"Of course. You did escort me to Granada," the ex-minister replied, "I never did thank you and your crew properly for protecting me and my ship," the older man bowed his head humbly."

Ford smiled. "The least I could do," he said.

Darcia chuckled as he crawled in beside Ford. "It's ironic... counting on Federation pilot to protect me on the way to my destination from my enemies inside Zeon. This will be the second time."

Ford blinked again, before shaking his head with a smile. "Yeah... but only that I've actually retired."

"What do you mean?" Darcia asked, confusion flooding his features.

"I'm no longer with the Federation military," Ford clarified, "after the whole shtick with the Titans, I just could not continue in good conscience anymore."

Now Darcia understood. "It appears that good conscience is not dead after all," he said with some relief.

Ford nodded. "Now let's get you someplace safe, old friend."

"Right," Darcia replied, "but what about the territorial patrols out there?"

"Don't worry. This ReZEL was made for stealth," Ford assured his passenger. The former ace pilot then activated his thrusters and lifted off gently. As Ford flew steadily through the hangar tunnel, Darcia was very quiet, not daring to interrupt Ford's delicate flying patterns. The whole time, he was thinking about what had to be done. _'I just pray that it's not too little too late,'_ Darcia thought, _'God... strengthen and guide me during this journey...'_

* * *

**Magallanica...**

To the duo currently overlooking the vastness of space, the mood was anything but enjoyable.

Banagher had not even changed out of his pilot suit, havingj ust come back from an armed intervention against a group of Zeon remnants that were planning terrorist attacks. His body was tense as he sighed. "Another mission completed," he muttered.

Mineva shook her head. Zeon terror attacks were continuing to escalate in frequency. "At this rate, it will not be long before..." Her voice trailed off and she gritted her teeth. Mineva shook her head in disgust.

Banagher knew how she felt. And in all honesty, he hated it as much as she did.

"What have I done, Banagher?" Mineva asked, "what did we ever accomplish then?"

"We did our best," he said, trying to reassure her.

"No," Mineva moaned, "I underestimated how powerful the Federation was in suppressing the Declaration and everyone else who dared to dissent. Nothing has changed in the slightest, except to put the people who trusted me in danger."

Banagher had no answer to that. Mineva began shedding some tears. The ex-Unicorn pilot placed his arm around her and hugged her close, trying to offer some comfort.

"Banagher..." Mineva allowed herself to sob.

"Somehow we'll get through this..." Banagher muttered. "I'm not sure how... but we will..."

Mineva clasped Banagher's arm as she sobbed silently. Neither one of them knew what to do, but the two decided to take solace in each other's presence to sooth over the wounds and disappointments. However, they had no idea help was coming... in a very unexpected way.

* * *

**Outside Magallanica...**

Ford continued to quietly maneuver his ReZEL D in Autistic Mode. While it meant that the stealth mobile suit had a small electronic profile that allowed it to slip past the patrols' sensors more easily, it meant that his radar was also offline along with most other functions, except for the camera and other basic operations. As such, Ford had to rely on his old-fashioned human senses to slip past the Zeon forces. His eyes narrowed as he adjusted his course, homing in on the massive structure of eyes narrowed as he adjusted his course, homing in on the massive structure of Magallanica.

"It's strange..." Darcia remarked, "we're flying around in a mobile suit, and we're hardly being noticed." He looked at a group of Gelgoogs that were flying by, unaware of the black ReZEL just a few hundred meters away.

"All I can say is that this stealth mode helps, but at a price in that we're down to basic systems," Ford mused.

"No wonder..." Darcia said, taking note of the lack of radar, many instruments, and the darkened cockpit, "so we're really down to our eyes."

Ford nodded. "Yes. It's basic, but it works." The ReZEL pilot then refocused on what was in front of him. He travelled amongst the various colony structures, making sure not to stick out too much as he headed for what appeared to be a mining asteroid. "That's got to be it..." Ford said as he slowly transformed from MS to Wave Rider mode, "good place to hide a colony builder..."

"Doesn't look heavily patrolled," Ford remarked as he cruised, "but we'd better watch it."

The ex-minster nodded and after a bit of thinking, started looking at the main camera monitors for anything out of the ordinary. The cruise had a tense silence as the ReZEL approached the asteroid.

Ford scanned with his eyes for any sign of the colony builder/fortress. Its shape was distinct and easy to recognize, if he could spot the darn thing. Hiding it within an asteroid's shadow was a smart move, he figured. "Should be okay now... disengaging Autistic Mode and resuming optimal functions." With that, the cockpit lit up as several of the sensors came online. The ReZEL continued on as its systems resumed normal operations. With his HUD fully functional, Ford selected an option from his menu. It brought up data on Magallanica's structure. With his HUD fully functional, Ford selected an option from his menu. It brought up data on Magallanica's structure.

"You know where you're going," Darcia said in more of a statement than a question.

Ford nodded, "of course. This is the only place they could hide such a thing." The One Year War veteran moved his joysticks, vectoring towards the estimated location of the colony builder. His eyes glimmered as he saw it, nested against the rock. "Bingo," he said.

Darcia squinted his eyes upon seeing the size of the vessel. "It's huge..." he breathed.

Ford pursed his lips. "It's a heck of a lot larger than the images suggested." The stealthy ReZEL D made its way to the loading docks. "There's our entry point." The HUD blinked to show the target point, where a large cable interface was located next to the harbor entrance. Ford adjusted his course to target that entry point. As he closed in, he raised his MS hand towards the interface. Wires extended from the ReZEL's palm, connecting to the ports in the interface. Ford then pressed on a command to transmit the appropriate codes to Magallanica. It was a few tense seconds before the interface beeped and ACCESS APPROVED flashed on the main monitor.

The harbor doors then started to slowly open. Ford scanned the area with his radar to see if anyone was present, but the screen was clear. "Clear." However, neither of the two men realized the warning sensor had gone off.

* * *

**Vist Mansion...**

Banagher and Mineva were startled as a warning alarm blared throughout the mansion. The former Unicorn pilot's blood ran cold. "Someone's entered the colony builder!" Banagher realized, "but how?"

Mineva frowned as she thought of who it could be, and what they were after. Right now they had to be wary. They also had to increase security on the Unicorn, just in case.

Banagher looked at Mineva. "I'll get the Silver Bullet ready for combat," he determined, "you get to safety."

"I'm staying," she said resolutely.

"Mineva-"

"If they are here to steal the Unicorn and Banshee, I've got to help organize our inner defenses," Mineva told Banagher, "I'll have that covered while you buy us time."

The former Gundam pilot pursed his lips, but recognized that she was going to stay. So he nodded. "Right."

Mineva nodded. "Go Banagher," she prompted, "I'll do my part." The pilot nodded and bolted for the hangar. Mineva glanced outside with a determined expression. Even with all the doubts in her mind about the Laplace Declaration, one thing was certain...

'Whoever it is... they will not take the Unicorn or Banshee.'

* * *

Ford flew the ReZEL D through the tunnel into the interior. He whistled to himself at the size and complexity of the maze he found himself in.

"How much further?" Darcia asked.

"We'll need to gain access to the Vist Mansion in the central habitat," Ford said, but looked around anxiously, "though that's probably easier said than done in this mess."

Darcia felt a bit uneasy as well. The place was a virtual maze of corridors. "Isn't there an alternative location we can fly to?" Darcia posed.

Ford scanned around, looking for such a location. His eyes landed on what appeared to be a large hangar bay. "There."

"I don't know, Ford," Darcia cautioned, "these people might attack us for barging in..." Ford knew his friend did have a point. So he decided to compromise. "We go in stealth," he said, switching to Autistic Mode. The cockpit dimmed as Ford slowly increased the engine thrust towards the hangar. The cockpit dimmed as Ford slowly increased the engine thrust towards the hangar. Ford's ReZEL then quickly shifted into its Wave Rider form, and with judicious thrust application, slipped through the hangar doors. Ford's ReZEL then quickly shifted into its Wave Rider form, and with judicious thrust application, slipped through the hangar doors. It was then that Ford and Darcia's eyes stared at the ship right in front of their sensors...

The Nahel Argama.

It was currently at dock undergoing maintenance, but it was there all the same.

"The Mock Trojan Horse," Darcia marveled from his booster seat. He had heard about the Nahel Argama by its nickname due to its resemblance to the Trojan Horse of the One Year War. While he knew Mineva was in the fortress, but he never expected to see the Nahel Argama docked here of all places.

The two men watched as they drew nearer to the ship, unaware that they were being observed.

The reputation of the ship was well deserved, as it had seen plenty of action during the Laplace Conflict... or rather, the prelude to a new war.

Banagher observed the intruder from his Silver Bullet Suppressor in its hiding place. He gripped the controls tightly as he saw the model of the mobile suit the intruder was using. "The Federation..." Banagher muttered as he looked upon the black ReZEL. It looked to be a new variant, with it's sleek and angled shapes giving it an almost alien appearance. He waited until the MS was about to turn its back. Banagher drew his beam saber, and charged.

Ford's gaze snapped to the main monitor as he saw the incoming dark greyish-purple colored mobile suit. He grabbed his own beam saber and drew it, bringing the blade up in a blocking motion. "Crud!" Ford exclaimed as he clashed with the Gundam-like mobile suit.

"So much for your silent entry," Darcia remarked as sparks flew about, "now what!?"

"Resuming optimal operations!" Ford disengaged Autistic Mode and finally grunted, shoving the beam saber of this unknown machine aside and preparing for his own attack. He opened the right arm compartment for the homing grenades. He hesitated the briefest of moments before he seized his chance as the unknown mobile suit came back around for another strike. Ford fired his two homing grenades, which tracked towards the Silver Bullet.

Banagher's radar went off and he tensed, jerking his machine left to avoid the grenades. With the Silver Bullet Suppressor's improved sensors and maneuverability, Banagher easily dodged as he used his beam saber to silce the projectiles in half. He turned back towards the black ReZEL, detaching his wire-guided beam guns. "INCOMs, engage!" ** _  
_**

"Not good!" Ford grunted.

Banagher commanded the guns to fire at low power settings, so as not to cause collateral damage. The guns lanced out with blue lasers, forcing the pilot of the ReZEL to dodge, relying on his darker colored armor to escape detection as best he could. But it was easier said than done at this point. Ford held back a curse as he dodged, but his maneuverability was limited by the confines of the hangar.

Ford fired his head vulcans at the INCOMs, which proved to be very elusive targets. "We didn't come here to fight!" The veteran pilot shouted at the attacking mobile suit, not expecting a response in particular. The communications system crackled to life at that point, and the unknown machine's pilot's voice came over the speakers.

"Calling out to unidentified mobile suit," Banagher spoke to the ReZEL D pilot, "unknown mobile suit, respond!"

Darcia recognized the voice from the dark Silver Bullet. "That's Banagher Links!" He looked towards his pilot in a prompting glance. "Ford, can you open a line to him?"

Ford agreed; they had come this way, specifically for Banagher Links among other things. He keyed the comm system. "This is Ford Romfellow, Banagher Links, do you copy?"

In the cockpit of the Silver Bullet, Banagher's eyes went wide at the name. It sounded familiar...

"I copy," he replied warily, "first off, how did you get inside Magallanica? Are you Federation?"

"Uh... Not... exactly..." Ford replied. "I'm...retired, so to speak. But that doesn't mean I don't have my reasons to be here. How I got inside doesn't matter. What I have to tell you _does_."

"What do you mean?" Banagher gripped the controls tightly.

"Believe me, Banagher... The fate of the future is at stake," Ford said grimly.

Banagher frowned, having heard this sort of thing before. "What future?" He had a cynical tone.

"The _true_ future of the Universal Century..." Here Ford hesitated before he decided to drop the bombshell. "...that the Noblesse fear." Silence fell between the two MS pilots.

Banagher was dumbstruck. "The who?"

"The Noblesse," Ford said again, "the very people that your dad and great-granddad risked so much to rebel against."

Now Banagher was wary, as well as confused. "Explain!" he demanded.

Ford looked to Darcia. He nodded. It was time to tell the pilot the truth. Ford turned back to Banagher on his screen. "Let's meet someplace safe. Then we can talk."

Banagher continued to stare warily at the ReZEL D through his main camera. From the corner of his vision, he saw a muzzle of a beam rifle from the Nahel Argama's flight deck. He pursed his lips as he made a decision.

"Riddhe... stand down," Banagher prompted. Ford perked up at what Banagher said and looked to the side. True enough, there was a standard ReZEL C that was aiming at him from the Nahel Argama's flight deck.

Riddhe sighed, and reluctantly powered down the rifle and lowered it. With that done, Banagher turned his attention back to the dark colored ReZEL. "Follow me. But if you try anything..."

"The only thing I'll be trying is warning you," Ford reassured, "I promise."

It was then that Darcia spoke up. "You and Princess Mineva can trust us, Links. What we're about to tell you could mean the difference between life and death."

Banagher wasn't too keen on trusting these men, but if what they said was true, then maybe there could be a chance...

* * *

**Minutes later...**

Mineva Lao Zabi pursed her lips as she, Captain Otto, and Zinnerman sat together in the Vist family main hall.

"The former prime minister of Zeon himself," Otto mused with an interested expression, "color me surprised. I never expected him to make such moves."

"Well," Zinnerman contemplated, "given that his differing political beliefs and methods earned him numerous assassination attempts by Gihren loyalists, I wouldn't be too surprised."

Mineva pursed her lips. "I wonder what caused him to defect..."

The Nahel Argama captain frowned. "What I'd like to know is how he and his escort pilot got past Magallanica's defenses," Otto said, "how do we know that they're not spies trying to probe our vulnerabilities for a larger attack?"

Mineva pondered their options. "There's only one way to find out..." As she muttered that, she felt two familiar presences approaching the main doors to the room, along with their two 'guests'. She rose with a slight smile in recognition of the former two, though with slight apprehension over the other two they had brought to her. "They're here."

The door slid open and in walked the four men. "Banagher, Riddhe," Mineva greeted the two former Unicorn pilots.

"Mineva," Banagher returned with an affirming smile.

"Here are our two guests," Riddhe said as he glanced back warily at the former Zeon prime minister and the pilot of the black ReZEL, "they were very adamant about seeing you themselves."

Mineva studied the two men briefly before she nodded. "Very well." She looked towards the older man, whom she recognized from images and memoirs regarding her grandfather. "Prime Minister Darcia," she addressed.

"Princess Mineva," Darcia bowed respectfully, to his dark grey-suited pilot's slight surprise. "I am happy to see you again after so many years."

"I wish I could say the same for you, Minister," Mineva said somberly. Darcia's heart almost tore up at the sight of Mineva's silent struggle. It was hard to see someone that young shouldering so much responsibility, and going through disillusionment.

"Princess, for what it is worth... I am sorry you have to shoulder this burden," he told her. Darcia sighed as he continued, "after your father, Colonel Dozle was killed at Solomon, your grandfather saw to it that you and your mother were as far removed from the rest of the Zabi family's infighting."

Mineva vaguely remembered that. "I can vaguely recall that," she stated.

This caused the former prime minister to quirk an eyebrow. She was just a baby then... How would she?

"At least I can remember my mother telling me that," Mineva added before Darcia asked. The former prime minister then remembered the kind Lady Zenna who captured the hard and tough Dozle's heart.

"Your mother, Lady Zenna..." the old former prime minister inquired, "what of her? Is she alright?"

"My mother, unfortunately, passed away when I was young," Mineva said solemnly.

Darcia hummed in disappointment. Of the Zabi family, aside from his friend Degwin, Darcia found Dozle and his wife to be the most inspiring and goodhearted of the bunch. He truly believed that they and their beautiful daughter were the best chance for Zeon's future at the time, especially with the rest of the Zabi family proving either incompetent or scheming charlatans with selfish and evil plans. Lady Zenna was a positive influence in Dozle's life, and she would be truly missed.

"Mr. Bakharov," Otto stepped in. Darcia looked to the captain of the Nahel Argama. "You're obviously here for more than just a social call," Otto began, "first off, we'd like to know how you got inside, and who you're working for." The captain glanced over to Ford, gesturing for emphasis.

"Let's just say we're working for someone who wishes to see the future change for the better," Ford began. "And by that, I mean expose the real rulers of Earth and space and bring them out into the open."

"You mean the Vist Foundation," Mineva said warily. Much to her surprise, Darcia shook his head.

"No. They were the _rebels_ to this real group," Darcia replied.

"Rebels?" Zinnerman was incredulous, "but they were the ringmasters behind Laplace's Box!"

"Yes... But there was a reason for that," Darcia stated. "The real reason behind the revelation of the Box was to try and bring to light the real rulers. To inspire people to encourage change in the Government."

Then he paused. "But what happened in the aftermath? Nothing. No changes were made. The reason... is the Noblesse."

"You keep talking about these Noblesse," Mineva noted.

"Because they are the ones who secretly rule the Earth... and space," Ford clarified. "They are the ones who ordered Ricardo Marcenas killed back in UC 0001, and thus led to the current state of affairs as we know it."

Otto then eyed the pilot more closely. He looked like someone he had seen. "And who are you?"

"My name is Ford Romfellow," the ReZEL pilot introduced himself.

"Romfellow..." it was then that a lightbulb lit up in Otto's brain. "You were one of the Gundam aces at the end of the One Year War," he remarked.

Ford smiled a bit. "That's right. I was Gundam Unit 5's pilot aboard the _Thoroughbred_ , escorting Darcia here to Grenada for the peace talks."

Both Mineva and Zimmermann stared in shock. "You were there?!" Zimmermann exclaimed.

"Yep," Ford quipped, "you could say that I prevented the war from dragging on." As it came back to him, Ford suddenly laughed. "But you should have seen the toys the Gihren loyalists were bringing to the party! They had advanced Gabaldy prototypes, Action Zakus with freaking beam rifles... oh, and don't forget a freaky Newtype mobile armor that nearly did me in! All that, and somehow I pulled it off!" In spite of the seriousness of the situation, the group couldn't help but laugh as well.

Zinnerman found the situation ironic. "You know," he remarked, "back then, I would have cursed your for shooting down those Zeon pilots..."

"Yes. But now, we are on the same side," Ford remarked.

The Princess of Zeon gave Ford a cool look. This made Banagher shoot a warning glance at the older pilot.

"You both wished to change the world for the better. But things didn't exactly go according to plan," Ford said hastily.

"And that is where the Noblesse come into play," Darcia stated. "They are those who, as I have said, caused the destruction of the original Laplace back when the UC calendar was ushered in. But what you don't know is the _true_ history... because it was hidden from everyone."

"What history?" Mineva was growing weary of this. The former prime minister was a confidant of her late grandfather, but this cryptic talk about the Noblesse was getting nowhere.

"The history that the Noblesse wish to keep hidden." Ford was serious as he said this. "There was a reason that Ricardo put that article in the charter. And it has to do with the Zabi family as well." A pall fell over the room with a deafening silence. Banagher and Riddhe looked between themselves with shock and confusion on their faces. They then looked at Mineva...

"How does this tie into my family?" Mineva asked with narrowed eyes. She did not know much of the Zabi family's history beyond their notorious involvement in the One Year War. Whatever records of the family that once existed were either destroyed or lost in the confusion of the war. It was said that her grandfather Degwin kept extensive records of history from the AD calendar through the UC calendar, but vanished either during Gihren's purges or the Federation occupation of Side 3.

Darcia's face fell as the weight of the moment was shouldered upon his shoulders. He looked between the Unicorn, the Black Lion, and the Princess, all gathered in the same room. "My friend's new...boss, so to speak... has uncovered an old conspiracy that led to the rise of the Zabis prior to the One Year War," Darcia began. "And along with it, you family's drive for Spacenoid independence." He then addressed Riddhe specifically, "and believe it or not, your family has ties to the Zabis all the way back to the AD era as well."

Now things were getting serious.

_**End Chapter 7** _


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own Gundam Unicorn, Gundam Narrative, or the Gundam franchise. Chase Lee, Antares, and Johann Revil are among my OCs. Seph Matthews, Tina Hendricks, Dr. Lombardi, and Dr. Ming belong to Titanic X.**

* * *

**Magallanica, Side 3, Republic of Zeon**

Now things were getting serious. Mineva was completely silent, not knowing whether to believe these two strangers making claims about her family history. But... they seemed to be truthful and sincere.

Riddhe however, was the first to voice his disbelief. "You gotta be kidding me!" he blurted, "what dealings could any of my family have with such a twisted and demented brood of people!?"

Banagher shot a disapproving glare at Riddhe."Riddhe!" Banagher called out his friend and wingman, thinking of the kinder and younger Zabi in the room. However, Riddhe was too caught in the drama of the revelation.

"This has got to be some kind of a joke!" Riddhe shot back.

Darcia, the former Zeon prime minister, shook his head. "You'd wish it were," he muttered, "but it is true."

Riddhe's eyes went wide at hearing this. "Just... How can it be true...?" he whispered.

Darcia then produced a flash drive. "Take a look at this and see for yourself," he said.

Ford chimed in. "If you won't believe our words alone," he said as he looked intently at the Zeon princess and her two elite pilots, "then maybe the documents in this drive will prove it."

Mineva pursed her lips, then took the drive. "If this proves your claim, then there is more to this than we know."

"I'm afraid so, your Highness," Darcia said with a bow. Otto and Zinnerman stared at the former prime minister. The group wasn't sure of what to make of this. The only way now, it seemed, was to verify their claim by looking at the flash drive.

Mineva then looked to Zinnerman. "Keep an eye on them and make sure they stay close while we look at this," she ordered.

"Of course," Zinnerman affirmed as he got up from his seat. "Come with me," he told the two newcomers. The two men followed him as he started to exit the room.

"Captain Otto," Mineva asked, "can we have our guards and mobile suits inspect Magallanica for other entry points? I want to know how these two got past our defenses, and no more surprises."

Otto nodded. "I'll get right on it," he said. With that, he stood and exited the room.

Mineva was now alone with her boyfriend and her one-time suitor.

"Mineva?" Banagher asked.

"What now?" Riddhe asked with a weary expression.

"We see whether those two were telling the truth," Mineva said as she held up the drive to her computer. Banagher and Riddhe stood to her sides as she sat down at her seat and brought up the large monitor. The Princess proceeded to put the drive into the USB port on her computer. As the USB uploaded, the screen showed a series of files, each neatly organized and in order.

Riddhe could not help but hum in approval.

Mineva scanned over them before her eyes landed on one labeled 'Zabi Family'. She then clicked on the folder. Up came several documents, each one labeled accordingly. There was one starred brightly in particular. It read 'Heinrich Zabi'.

"Heinrich?" Banagher muttered. He never heard of this particular Zabi in his history classes. Mineva brought up the document, and her eyes widened.

 _'How foolish I was,'_ the letter read, _'we were fools. Both of us. We thought the world would be better. We thought that it would bring about peace. Our goal was not to instigate a forced exodus. No. It was different. We sought to give people in space a chance. But those at the top... the real enemy... they had different ideas. Different goals. And they took our dream... and twisted it for their own selfish gain. 'In our naivety, we formed the Federation in hopes of unifying the world's most powerful nations to accelerate the recovery from the last series of global conflicts and chaos. Little did the both of us realize how much power we had given to cynical and tyrannical men who exploited our ideals to form a global elite hierarchy without a powerful rival nation to check it.'_

_'When we discovered the truth, it was too late for my old friend. He died due to the selfish actions of his son, who was an agent for the global elite. And in my shame, I tried to act, but was made an accomplice in his murder. I was framed and exiled, cast out and ordered to never return. I fled to Side 3, where my family set up shop. But... I had no idea what was to come... I hoped to rally the Sides to independence, to check their ambitions. But... it was all for nothing...'_

_'The people who financed and backed Marcenas and my Earth Federation initiative posed as humanitarians and philanthropists, tongues laced with platitudes and praise for humanistic values and global brotherhood. Yet as my friend became the first Prime Minister and I his Minister of Colony Development, they showed their true colors: tyrants and manipulators, who while enabling our rise to positions of power, at the same time bankrolled the very dictators, bureaucrats, rogues, and militants that threw our world into chaos to pave the way for our Federation. They promised us responsibility, power, and wealth to reshape the world, but it was all with strings attached. We were nothing but pawns to cover for the greed and cynicism of these elites... these Noblesse...' 'We has been played. So my friend came up with the idea to give the colonies real power. Power that they feared. He put it into the charter, hoping that it would be seen as legal, and for a moment, it seemed as if it would work. But unbeknownst to us, we had been observed, and thus, the terrorist attack happened. The original charter was lost, and it was altered to fit the Noblesse agenda. The colonies were seen as inferior, and this became the backbone of their policies... to keep those cast out and later born in space as a political and economic underclass they could abuse and use. The Earth became something to be worshipped, as they oppressed those deemed undesirable and sinful against the Earth.'_

_'My family, the Zabis, and the Marcenas family are now cursed with the knowledge that we helped to bring about this oppression and tragedy. In toppling the nations and empires of old out of misguided optimism for global governance, we gave birth to an even more sinister form of empire and power extending into the cosmos.' 'So it is my goal now to create a nation of colonies to stand against them. Even if I shall fail to recognize justice in this time, others shall rise to challenge the stagnant and oppressive vassal system the Noblesse maintain through their Federation cronies. They shall rue the future where the people rediscover their liberty and independence in the reaches of space, as did the empires of the Enlightenment Ages when their settlers forged their destinies in the Western Hemisphere and threw off their chains. May God fill the future pioneers with swift and terrific resolve against this Second Babylon, and grant them blessings untold of in the stars beyond that they may liberate our home planet of this globalist scourge!'_

Mineva's eyes were wide in shock. So those two men _had_ been telling the truth...!

"What is this?" Riddhe questioned, "and who on earth is Heinrich?" Mineva scanned the files again, and her gaze landed on a newspaper article. She clicked on it. It was dated just the day after the Laplace Incident in UC 0001... _'Colony Development Minister Accused of Assassinating Federation Prime Minister.'_

"This...What is this?" Riddhe repeated, reading over the article. As he read it over, it detailed how the influential Federation minister of the Zabi family was Ricardo Marcenas' closest ally until the day Laplace was destroyed. "So that's who he was..." the former Banshee pilot murmured.

Mineva herself was digesting the news of who her ancestor was. "He was once friends with Ricardo..." she murmured. On top of that, one of the founding members of the very government her immediate family would later seek to overthrow.

Mineva scanned through the article in disbelief. The details were extensive, with Heinrich's complete background, the trials he was subjected to, and his exile into space.

Her eyes drifted to another file, this time labeled "Meeting timestamp." She clicked on it, and up came something downright disturbing. It was a list of minutes detailing a meeting between Ricardo's son George... and a group of unknown individuals. However, the names of those people were missing, as well as the majority of the text. Some parts looked like they had been filled in by hand, in very detailed writing. Attached to the bottom was an addendum. "I could not find the complete details, as many of them were erased. However, some things I was able to fill in and piece together based on the events that have transpired thus far. I know you can find the rest and put the true story together."

"Mineva..." Banagher muttered as he read it, "what could all this mean?"

"It means there is a deeper conspiracy afoot," the Princess remarked, her eyes narrowing.

Banagher's gaze hardened in realization. "We were foolish..."

Riddhe sensed what Banagher meant and nodded. "We threw in the towel too soon..."

Mineva closed out of the main folder before she brought up another one, this time labeled 'Marcenas Family'. The folder was _loaded_ with documents.

Riddhe was now hooked on.

Mineva scanned through the documents, this time picking one that read 'Ricardo's Will'. "A will?" She looked to the Marcenas heir in the room.

Riddhe's eyes were locked onto it as he reached out to touch the screen. "Click it..." he whispered.

Mineva hesitated, but then did as he asked. Up it came.

_'To those who come after me,_

_I am sorry to say that we have been played. Our ambitions and drive were used against us. In our foolish haste to work alongside the richest of the rich to finance colonization of space, we had no idea they were only seeking to further enrich themselves and deprive the colonists and other inhabitants of their free rights. If this has come to pass, then I can only fear the worst. The hypothetical race of space-adapted humans, those with enhanced perception, will be the one hope we have left... to break down everything they have worked so hard to build up for themselves..._

_If God willing that He should bend possibility in favor of the oppressed in space... the Noblesse shall see their best laid plans scattered into the dust of space._

_May this will guide our hopes to the true future we all seek.'_

Riddhe's head swam with thoughts. The young man looked back at his companions, stunned.

Now Banagher was beginning to understand his great-grandfather's decisions surrounding LaPlace's Box.

"He knew..." Riddhe voiced, "he knew what would happen all along..."

The three were now beginning to understand just how deep things went. It was clearly a conspiracy designed for a sinister purpose. But as to what that purpose was, they needed to know. And the biggest question was... who could they even trust at this rate?

* * *

**_Ra Cailum_ , Docked at Von Braun EFSF Base...**

Aboard the Ra Cailum, things were getting... interesting, to say the least. "What now?" Chase groaned as he marched into the hangar.

"I can't believe he managed to get out of the cradle again!" a technician grumped as he eyed the restraints, which had, much to Chase's relief, not been torn off their framework, but looked like they had been forced open instead. "How did that kid do it?! And without anyone noticing to boot?!"

Chase then glared at the active Dracon.

"Sorry," Seph shrugged as he stood up rather relaxed, "I thought I needed to move my servos... and the locks just came undone." He flexed his wings a few times, obviously relishing in being able to get them moved a bit.

"How? You don't even have the codes for the cradle," Chase pointed out.

Seph looked down. "Uh...I..." He pressed two fingers together. "I just was experimenting..." he squeaked.

"It had better not be what I think," Chase tapped his foot, arms crossed. The Gundam flinched. Chase turned to the Dracon technician. "Did anyone see how it happened?"

Tina looked up from where she sat beside the monitor. "I did," she remarked.

"Hendricks?" Chase prompted.

Tina gestured to the monitor. "Somehow he managed to use the Dracon's wireless connection to crack the code," she mentioned. The screen displayed the code right there, flashing.

"Hmm..." Chase mused, "a result of the psycommu?"

Tina shrugged. "Maybe," she said.

Chase then looked around. "Where is Dr. Lombardi?" he asked.

"He's off trying to analyze what happened," Tina told him, pointing to where the engineer sat, looking at the data on a laptop. The Londo Bell commander then walked over to the doctor next to the cradle.

"That kid is a fast learner," Dr. Lombardi remarked. "He already figured out how to use the ECM..."

"What did you say?" Chase chimed in, surprising Lombardi.

"I said he already figured out how to use the ECM," the man said. "He's a fast learner."

"The psycommu?" Chase then looked at the sentient Unicorn unit. Seph glanced back, giving a small nod.

Lombardi glanced to Chase. "I can only theorize as to that being the case," he explained. "After all, this has never happened before, so there's still so much we're learning."

Chase pursed his lips. He was NOT keen on Seph going through random systems with electronic warfare capabilities willy-nilly. He turned to the dark colored Gundam as he stood there, looking like a kid who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Look, I didn't even know I could do that," Seph defended.

Chase folded his arms as he stood before the Gundam. "That may be, but you should not be going through your own systems willy-nilly!" he scolded.

"Remember what happened the last time you nearly lost control," Chase reminded, "and it's even more imperative that you stay cool while we are here on base." Seph winced at the memory.

Chase then turned back to Lombardi. "Doctor, care to give me a more complete rundown on the psycommu and the ECM? I need to know more about what we're dealing with here."

Lombardi nodded. "Right away," he said. The doctor brought up the schematics. "The psycommu, as you know, is designed to function with the power of human brainwaves. But since the kid's mind is within the Gundam itself, it appears that the system is more or less starting to affect other systems like they were a part of his body already. The ECM is one such system," Lombardi explained.

"Similar to what the Unicorn could do with funnels?" Chase referred to reports concerning the prime unit's battle with the 'Quad-Wing' around Palau.

"Yes," the engineer remarked.

"This thing's a real monster in terms of its weapons suite," the Ra Cailum hangar crew chief remarked, "if anyone else got their hands on Ensign Kyle and his unit... who knows what havoc they could wreak?" Seph shifted a bit nervously at that comment.

"If that's the case," Chase remarked, "then we'll have to nip this in the bud."

"I take it you have a plan, then?" Lombardi asked.

"We'll need to expand Seph's ability to control more of his systems consciously," Chase said, "let's get him hooked back up here so we can assist him." He looked to Tina. "Hendricks, can you bring him back here?"

Tina nodded. "Sure." She turned to the Gundam. "Seph, we need you back in the cradle for a few minutes." The winged Gundam flinched, but did as he was asked.

"Lombardi," Chase prompted, "can you assist Seph with some programs to better control his weapons systems more consciously?"

The engineer nodded. "Yes. I can."

Seph jerked his helm to Chase in confusion. "Wait, what?!"

"Seph, you have to trust us," the Londo Bell veteran said, "we can't have your weapons going off at random like this."

The Gundam shivered at the implications. "O-Okay..." he whispered. "I-I'll trust you."

Tina smiled up at Seph to reassure him. "This will help you in the long run," she told him. Her hand landed on his shoulder guard, and he looked to her, his visor glowing faintly. The mere sensation of her hand on his frame made him shiver a bit, and he relaxed. "Okay. I'll do it," he said.

Seph walked back towards the crib and steadied himself into it.

The cradle gantries swung back into position over his frame, and he had to keep from flinching.

Chase nodded in approval, but something in the back of his mind to him that there was still the possibility of something going awry. He decided to pick up the intercom phone on the console, and dialed in the bridge. "Bridge, connect me to Captain Bright," Chase requested. As Bright was meeting again with Revil, Chase also figured that Revil would hear this too.

The connection to the captain was established a few minutes later. "Captain Bright," Chase said.

"Ah. Commander Lee. Care to explain why you're calling me?" Bright asked. "Did the kid get into some trouble again?"

"Not really, sir," Chase decided to give Seph a break, "but I'm giving you and the Colonel a heads up that we are conducting another systems test in-hangar with his MS. I'm letting you both know as a precaution."

"Understood, and thank you for the heads up," Bright said. "Just make sure he doesn't have another near meltdown incident."

"I'll make darn sure of it," Chase reassured. The young commander hung up. With that, he turned to face the team as they gathered around Seph. "Hope this works Lombardi."

The doctor nodded. "You are not the only one." He then faced the Gundam. "You ready Seph?"

Seph nodded, although his wings twitched with worry. "I-I guess so," he squeaked.

'Here we go...' Chase thought.

"Let's try with something simple. Try and activate your psychoframe, but remember to try and keep it under control," Lombardi instructed.

The Gundam nodded, feeling worry fluttering in his chest. Seph mentally focused on accessing his psychoframe functions. His optics dimmed a shade, and then something happened. The psychoframe lit up a purple hue under the armor. His armor began to shift and open, his frame seeming to grow in height and bulk up a bit. His helm also changed, his faceguard withdrawing into his helmet and his V-fin opening to reveal his true Gundam features. The cradle strained a bit from the change in proportions, but it held.

Chase watched the whole thing apprehensively. Within mere moments, Seph's frame was in Destroy Mode.

"Doctor?" Tina questioned in a concerned tone.

"So far things are looking good," Dr. Lombardi assured her. "He seems to be calmed down..."

"Seph, how are you feeling?" Chase asked.

The Gundam looked up, shifting a bit in his cradle. "I..." He paused, hearing the changes to his voice. "This is so weird..." he muttered. "Why's my voice so different in this mode?" Chase shrugged in response.

The Gundam turned his head, looking at his frame, slowly flexing a hand. "Wow... So this is what it's like..." he murmured in awe. Seph never really took time to appreciate the Dracon's function and design. But now, he could. He flexed his hands a bit, feeling the sheer power as it surged through him. "Man... This power is amazing!" he breathed. He arched his back a bit in the cradle, tilting his head back a bit.

"Be careful, Seph," Dr. Lombardi warned, "that's still a lot of power at normal operating levels, we don't know-"

"I feel in control!" Seph said as he got carried away, increasing his output. However, that's when things went... awry...

Warning alarms went off on the cradle computer. "What's happening!?" Chase had really bad vibes now.

Tina's eyes landed on the alarms, and her eyes widened. "Oh no...!" she muttered. "He activated the jammers!"

"Jammers!? Shoot," Chase turned towards the glowing Dracon, "Seph, shut it down!"

The Gundam didn't answer. He was too drawn in by the power he was feeling. He clenched his fists, feeling the power coursing over his frame before something tapped his shoulder guard. He looked to the person who had rapped her hand on him and his optics flickered in surprise at seeing Tina with concern on her face. "Seph, shut it down!" she repeated.

Seph was surprised at her request, but upon hearing the alarms and seeing panic on the faces of the technicians, he grasped the situation immediately and forced the psychoframe to shut down, converting him back into his base Unicorn Mode.

However, the lights suddenly went out.

"What the heck?!" one of the technicians blurted. Seph looked around. "Uh... oops..."

"What's going on, Lombardi?" Chase forced himself to keep calm, though the strain in his voice did betray his shock.

"It appears that the jammers on the Dracon are far more powerful than anticipated," the engineer explained, straining his eyes to try and see in the dark.

One of the hangar guards tried one of the intercoms, but got nothing. "We've lost communications! All systems are down!"

'Not good...' Chase thought. He then asked, "what about our life support systems!?"

"The life support is operational, but it's running on emergency backup power," the guard replied.

"I-I didn't mean to do this!" Seph squeaked.

"Nice going kid," the crew chief was irate.

"Enough!" Tina barked. "He's sorry about this, and as it stands we have to get the ship back up and running."

"She's right," Chase concurred, "we need someone to get word down to the reactor room and get the power for this ship back on at least. Let's do this people!"

"Yes, sir!" came the reply. Then Chase turned back to Seph. Although the room was dark, he could see the way the Gundam was shivering and his optics glowed beneath his face guard.

Chase thought to himself, 'I just hope this ship was the only casualty...' Sadly, he was wrong...

* * *

**Revil's Office, two minutes before...**

Colonel Joseph Revil glanced to Bright. "So the kid's undergoing more training," he mused, having been informed by Bright.

"That's what Commander Lee told me," Bright said as he got off his com.

Joseph nodded. "I see. That's good, then."

Bright exhaled as he sat down with the young Revil. "So this mysterious gold mobile suit everyone's been talking about is Unit 3 of the Unicorn series?" Bright continued the initially shocking discussion over Joseph's source revealing the mystery unit that had been perplexing the entire Earth Sphere.

Revil nodded. "Yes."

The captain sighed. "I can't believe there's a third one out there."

"There is, and you'll have to find it and fast," Colonel Revil said, "while the military is trying to keep the rest of us in the dark, I was able to gleam information regarding the secret dispatch of the Army Special Forces to capture the Phenex. I guess they don't want Londo Bell in on this."

Bright pursed his lips. "I see..." Already he was getting a bad feeling in his gut.

"I'm guessing that after the stunt you've pulled in storming Cheyenne," Revil deduced, "the Federation has even less reason to trust you. You've made yourself known as a wildcard, Bright." Bright did remember that. But given the situation, what other choice did he have?

"If I may be frank," Revil added, "it's a miracle that you haven't been imprisoned or worse, given how you seem to end up in these sorts of positions."

Bright nodded. "Yes. But however the cause, I'm grateful for that."

Revil smiled at that, but then resumed his serious talk. "I must warn you though," Revil said as he poured some tea, "whatever happens next will not be like anything you've had to do, whether it was the AEUG or being independent as Londo Bell." He then offered the cup to Bright. "You're about to go against the chief conspirators themselves. They're out to get all the Unicorns for themselves, and they will absolutely show no mercy to those who know the truth." The Londo Bell captain accepted the cup.

Bright's mind reflected back on the Unicorn they had in their possession. "I'm well aware, seeing as how we have one in our hands already," he said seriously. "And seeing as how it has a human's mind within it..." He grimaced a bit at the implications.

"But first off, the moment you set sail," Revil indicated, "you must go to Side 3. If my source and mentor is right, the Noblesse and Monaghan are about to make their move to seize the Unicorn and Banshee for themselves. They'll also eliminate their riders and the Princess in the process."

Bright's eyes narrowed. "I'll make sure they're unharmed," he stated.

"But... if we do recapture all Unicorn units," Bright inquired, "what next? I doubt the Noblesse will allow them to go so easily."

Revil sipped his tea as he focused on what he was going to say next. "There's something else you must know," he began.

However... the lights suddenly went out. The two men looked up, surprised. "What the heck just happened?" Bright asked as he pulled out a flashlight and turned it on.

Revil went to try the desktop. Nothing happened. "Power's out."

"What do you think caused it?" Bright inquired.

Revil had no answer, but looked outside of the window to see a shocking sight. Outside, he saw as several lights across the lunar city started to flick out. What was even scarier was that several ships and shuttles, even Federation warships started to drift aimlessly as their thrusters lost power. Escort mobile suits around the warships were nothing more than rag dolls as they floated aimlessly. The whole section of the city that included the military base they were in was without power. Some of the ships that were too close to the lunar surface drifted for a while, before running aground on the rocky surface. Others distubringly scrapped against one another, with no control.

Bright came over as well, and his eyes widened in horror. A Salamis-class was drifting closer to the window... on a collision course.

"Let's get out of here," Bright said as he rushed towards the fire exit. Revil grabbed his secure tablet with all its important files and rushed towards the fire exit with Bright. The fire exit was, like every other door in the city, equipped with a manual open handle so that meant it could be opened in the case of an emergency such as this. The two officers scrambled down the stairs, trying to get down before the Salamis completely demolished the upper part of the building. They barely managed to make it out of the stairwell and seal it just before a harsh rumbling and explosive boom signaled the Salamis ripping through the upper floors. Bright and Revil stumbled from the impact. "Too close," Revil sighed.

The two glanced up at the stairwell's door, unsure of how well it would hold.

"What the heck happened?" Bright mused openly.

The answer was clear to Revil however. "The Dracon... Ensign Ray must have triggered its Psycommu ECM." And that was worrisome.

"Psycommu ECM? You're saying the Dracon can do that?" Bright did not like that.

Revil looked to the captain. "The Dracon has a monster of an ECM suite... it can disable all non-Unicorn units and electronics within a 500-km radius."

Bright's eyes went wide. "Are you serious," he breathed out.

"That must have been the test your mobile suit commander was talking about," Revil deduced, "he probably was unaware of how powerful it is."

Bright gritted his teeth. "Darn..."

Revil pursed his lips... he knew this sort of event would not escape media coverage and the Noblesse's ears. "We have to get out and back to the ship... now."

Bright looked at Revil for a while, before growing serious with a realization. "You could be in trouble," he mused.

"More than that," Revil said, "they'll find a convenient excuse to deal with you too. We should get underway before that happens."

The captain nodded. "Let's go then." The two men then carefully moved throughout the darkened hallways to reach the _Ra Cailum_.

* * *

**Magallanica...**

Banagher, Mineva, and Riddhe sat together as they met with Darcia Bakharov and his pilot, Ford Romefellow.

"Everything that you have told us is true," Mineva began. "As not even I had expected this to be so deep..."

"Even your grandfather, Degwin, admitted that much," Darcia said.

"Not to mention my great grandfather actually foresaw this coming," Riddhe muttered, still in shock.

"Yes he did," Darcia affirmed, "and both he and Heinrich carried those regrets to their graves... bless their poor souls."

"I'm more concerned what really happened to my ancestor, though," Mineva continued. "What exactly happened, because most of what was shown in the drive's contents has been redacted. And the note that came with it said much has been destroyed."

"Much of the Zabi family libraries and archives were lost during and after the war," Darcia answered, "but he is the reason why the Zabis attempted to build their powerbase in Side 3 after their exile from Earth."

Now she understood what led to the rise of the Principality of Zeon. Not only had the Laplace conspirators killed Ricardo Marcenas and sealed away Laplace's Box, they gave rise to the restless Zabi ambition to overthrow their own creation by persecuting her ancestor. And all this... just for insatiable greed and power. Mineva turned to the two men who had come to see her. "What is your plan now?" she asked.

Ford and Darcia turned to one another. "I believe Mr. Romefellow here can answer that question," Darcia deferred politely.

The pilot nodded. "Yes." Ford leaned forward. "Another part of the reason I'm here is to warn that Magallanica, and all of your crew, are in danger, Princess Mineva," Ford explained.

"..." The princess was silent as she frowned. "I see..."

"What sort of danger?" Banagher asked, though he had some inkling of what it could be. Ford looked Banagher dead in the eyes at this.

"Monaghan Bakharov is making preparations to seize Magallanica," Ford indicated.

Mineva pursed her lips tightly. This was not good, she knew. "I already guessed that much," Mineva clarified.

"So you have to be ready to leave or prepare for the coming seizure," Ford stated.

"You mean escape to Federation airspace," Riddhe deduced, as the Mineva faction had secret arrangements with the Federation.

Ford shook his head. "That's leaping from the frying pan into the fire." Banagher raised an eyebrow.

Darcia then explained, "Monaghan... my very own son, is a Noblesse member, just like the Federation admiralty and the current prime minister of the Federation." Now _that_ was a shocker.

"He has his own ambitions," Darcia added, "but as a member of the Noblesse, he, the Republic of Zeon, and the Federation have a common interest in seeing all of you here disappear, and to take possession of all of your psychoweapons."

Mineva's eyes hardened. "So then we have nowhere to turn to, is that it?" she asked.

"No one... except his boss," Darcia gestured back to Ford.

Ford nodded. "Yes. My boss is someone that can be trusted..." He paused, hesitating before he spoke again. "Because he developed the psychoframe." That was the bombshell right there.

"Developer!?" Riddhe was now wary.

Ford nodded. "But he was the developer of the true psychoframe: The Type Genesis... the very same psychoframe equipped to the Unicorns." The former Federation pilot even glanced Banagher's way. "And he was your great-grandfather's and your father's secret, but closest ally."

Banagher was speechless. Mineva herself found it hard to believe, but then focused on something else. "You said something about the psychoframe being a Type Genesis... what is that?"

Ford's eyes hardened. "The truth is that there are _two_ types of psychoframe. The Type Genesis and then the Type Oblivion. That second one is more powerful, but at a steep cost in that it attracts negative emotions. Type Genesis is the counter to that, and the type that the Noblesse fears, and for good reason," he began. "In short, Type Genesis draws on the power of compassion and love and understanding for its true strength." This was all news for the three powerful Newtypes in the room.

"Two types of psychoframe..." Banagher was horrified.

"Unfortunately, the vast majority of the pyschoweapons in existence, use Type O psychoframes," Darcia added, "the developer of the technology himself has verified this as you probably can see in the drive I gave you." Mineva did recall seeing that.

"He also said that Noblesse intend to either capture or destroy all Type G psychoframes and wipe all traces of the technology to keep it from neutralizing any of their own Type O psychoframes," Darcia added, "the ban on all psychoframe technology they had you agree to was but a cover and a distraction. Sorry to say, Mineva... but you were played for a fool."

Mineva's eyes narrowed. "I see. And you intend to tell me that the truth about the Unicorns will be exposed? That they were only sealed away?" she asked.

Darcia nodded. "Your true battles have only just begun, my Lady..."

Mineva did not like the sound of that. While she could see the point, yet at the same time... she was not about to be simply manipulated into a futile cause... she wanted verification before blind trust. "I need more proof before I am to make my decision," she stated. Just as she said that, her terminal beeped. Her gaze snapped to it and she walked over, pressing the button. "Yes?"

The screen showed _Nahel Argama_ operator Mihiro in the Magallanica operations center. "Lady Mineva."

"Hello, Mihiro," Mineva responded. "What is it that you had to call me about?"

"We've got a situation developing on the Moon."

"What?" Mineva asked.

"I'll send the news feed to you now."

Mineva's terminal beeped and within minutes, the scene came up, and her eyes widened. "Oh my..."

Banagher and Riddhe looked up on the big screen to see absolute pandemonium on live feed from Von Braun from a news ship above the lunar surface.

"...around three forty five this afternoon, an unexplained energy surge struck Von Braun City and left a third of the city without power. Authorities are still trying to find out the source of the surge, as well as get power back online to the city and Federation ships and mobile suits. Casualties are expected to be very high, but estimates are still unknown at this time," the news reporter said. There were several craft that were either adrift in the space above the city, while others crashed-landed. Some of them rammed into parts of the outer city facilities, causing damage.

Mineva was shocked. "What in the world...?"

"What the heck happened?" Riddhe rubbed his head, distressed at the carnage.

"Apparently something caused a massive power outage over a third of the city," Mihiro's voice replied over the video footage. Emergency ships and Federation vessels unaffected by the blackout initiated relief and rescue operations, as they launched MS and shuttles to put out fires, seal off atmospheric breaches, and find survivors from the crashes.

"Do you know what caused it?" Mineva asked.

"It's unclear," Mihiro said, "we're unable to pinpoint the source."

"Try and find it as soon as you can," Mineva said. "We have to know what caused this."

"Commander Haagensen and Flaste are doing their best," Mihiro said.

The Zeon princess nodded. "Thank you," Mineva said, "tell them to be careful."

"Yes, Lady Mineva." Mihiro's voice disappeared as the news feed shut down.

Ford then felt his phone vibrate from inside his pocket. The pilot reached in and pulled it out. The number was one he knew. Confident that his and the other person's scramblers were on, Ford pressed on the messenger app. The screen popped up.

'Made contact?' The text from the other end read.

"Yes," Ford replied via text.

"Massive blackout at Von Braun... detected massive psychowave spike," was the next text.

"I see... Did you identify the source?" Ford typed back.

"The Dracon, located inside the _Ra Cailum_ ," the guy on the other end came on.

Ford narrowed his eyes. "Any movement from the enemy?" he asked.

"EFSF is occupied with clean up, but it won't be long before their handlers catch on. Be on alert on your side as well."

"Understood. Will be prepared." Ford cut the communications as he pocketed his phone and looked at the Newtype trio before him. There was a serious expression to Ford's face.

"I take it you learned where the energy surge came from?" Mineva asked.

"Yes... and it's not good for any of us."

"Then where did it come from?" Mineva inquired.

"It seems that the crew aboard Londo Bell's _Ra Cailum_ got their hands on one of my boss' new Unicorn units, and attempted a test with its systems," Ford clarified.

Now Mineva was beginning to understand. "And it went wrong, right?"

Banagher's eyes narrowed a little. "Wasn't it supposed to be illegal to obtain new psychoframes?"

"It was... but this Unicorn model was developed beforehand for the next step in your great-grandfather's plan.," Ford answered.

"Hm?" Banagher cocked an eyebrow.

Darcia narrowed his gaze at his escort. "You do know though, that this Unicorn is now within the belly of the Federation," he reminded, "if the Noblesse discover it , they will most certainly seize it."

Banagher's gaze hardened at the implications. "So then we have to get it back," he mused.

Ford smiled. "I think my boss has that handled... my job here is to help you all here get back on track."

* * *

**_Ra Cailum_ , Von Braun Base**

"What's taking so long," Meran groaned as he entered the ship's reactor control room.

"It's not easy, given how complicated this is," one of the engineers remarked as he shifted on his knees.

"Great..." Meran sighed as he looked around at the reactor crew.

"Hey. At least we're trying our best," a second engineer stated.

"I know... but what the heck was Lee thinking?" Meran thought aloud.

"Heck I should know," the first engineer said. The engineer looked for the circuit breakers to the ship's power grid. He held up his flashlight and swept it around the room. "There they are." He proceeded to make his way towards the circuit breakers. "Let's see how bad it is..." The engineer grasped the cover of the breakers and pried it open. He flashed his light as he set his tools down. "You there," he pointed at a technician, "help me with this."

The woman nodded and scampered over. She grasped the flashlight and held it up for him so he could see the damage.

"How does it look?" Meran called out, expecting some bad news.

The engineer sighed in relief as he looked at the breakers.

"Not too bad," he remarked. "We can easily fix this."

Meran smiled and exhaled at ease. "Get us back online, please."

The engineer nodded and went to work.

Then Meran turned his thoughts back to the Gundam in the hangar bay.

That ECM of his was incredibly powerful... especially in Destroy Mode, he realized.

'Commander Lee... you'd better pray that you keep your job,' the XO earnestly thought with a mixture of exasperation and concern.

* * *

Back in the hangar, though, Seph was getting chewed out by Lee for his stunt with the jammers and ECM.

"I can't believe you just blacked out the entire ship," Chase scolded, "we could both get into soup for this, and it's not Bright that we have to worry about!"

"How was I supposed to know I activated the jammers?!" Seph exclaimed.

Chase fumed and exhaled as he composed himself. "Now we've got some serious explaining to do when Bright gets back, if he can get back..."

Seph's wings twitched as he looked away in shame. "I'm no good at this..." he moped. "I can't even control my own psycommu..."

"It just takes time," Tina said gently. "Not everyone can just control their machine right off the bat. I mean, look at Amuro Ray. He couldn't really control his machine, and it was only through experience that he became the ace he was."

Seph looked at her. "So?"

Tina pursed her lips. "What I'm saying is you can do it. It just takes time. When you go into Destroy Mode next time, don't activate the ECM."

Seph managed a nod, but he still felt a bit nervous of the sheer power he held within himself.

Chase looked upon the interaction with a sympathetic and understanding look, thinking of the talks he had with Amuro as his instructor. 'I wish you were here to help, Amuro...' he thought, thinking of how he would deal with young rookies, especially those showing Newtype potential.

* * *

Meanwhile in the brig, Seph's friends and colleagues found themselves stuck in darkness.

"Dang... now what?" Martha asked.

"I can't see jack in here," Hunter complained as he could barely even make out the outlines of his own hands.

One of the others chimed in. "I think something caused the ship's power to go out."

"An EMP maybe?" Another suggested.

"I dunno," Martha mused. "Otherwise we'd've felt a tingling."

Hunter scratched his head in frustration, until he felt something in his sleeve. His hand reached for it and he pulled out the small objects. He smirked... he had forgotten about them! "I think I can get us outta here," he said.

"Lock picks? You had them this whole time?" Martha was incredulous.

"Yeah. I forgot about them until now," Hunter remarked as he held up the case. He opened it to reveal the two pieces of wire. Hunter grabbed them and inched closer to the door. He reached around the bars and inserted the wires into the lock. Hunter's eyes narrowed as he started to pick at the lock, which while electronic, had mechanical locking mechanisms as well.

Hunter's fingers worked deftly as he adjusted and angled the picks, trying to spring the mechanism within. "Come on..."

A soft click came seconds later, and he smirked. "Got it!" Hunter then slowly slid the door open. He inched his way out, keeping his eyes and ears open for any guards that came their way to check on the prisoners.

"Finally," Martha sighed as she inched her way out behind him. She stretched her limbs after feeling stiff and locked up for days. Martha finally looked around, groping for any sort of light on her person. She pulled out a small flashlight before flicking it on, covering it with her hand partially.

"Hey guys," one of their teammates waved from behind the bars, "can you get us out?"

Hunter made his way over with the lockpicks with a snicker. "What makes you think I wouldn't?" he joked as he went to work. The lock clicked open.

Slowly, Hunter made his way down the line of cells, opening the locks while Martha kept an eye out for the guards.

"About time to blow this joint." One of the PMCs said as he rubbed his limbs.

Once free, the group gathered near the door, allowing Hunter to pick the locks.

Another teammate looked to Martha. "Martha girl, what's the plan?"

"Once we get out, we make our way to the hangar," Martha said. "This way we can find and bust Seph out as well."

"And just how are we going to do that with an entire ship full of Londo Bell jokers and marines?"

Martha pursed her lips as she tried to think.

Hunter just shook his head. "We'll just have to be as quiet as we can," Hunter remarked, "and hopefully we can beat it before the power comes back on..."

Martha nodded in agreement, "let's not waste time then." The group left the darkened cell block, unaware of the drama they were about to walk into...

_**End Chapter 8** _


	9. Chapter 9

**Unspecified location**   
**May 4, UC 0096**

The room was dark.

But not entirely. The faint hint of light shone in through the windows, barely peeking past the shades covering them. But it was enough to illuminate the figure seated at a desk, a terminal in front of him. On the monitor, a certain Princess of Zeon was giving a speech from a podium, emblazoned with the old Earth Federation emblem as she unveiled yet one of the Universal Century's greatest secrets. The figure narrowed his eyes as he studied the event. "Hm. So... the truth starts to come out..." he muttered softly. "Just like Syam wanted."

The other of the two men in the room, wearing an EFSF uniform, remarked, "so this was the secret all this time, Dr. Ming..."

"Yes, it was," the man, Dr. Ming, replied. "The truth about the Universal Century. The real truth. Not that load of bull that George Marcenas crafted." His eyes hardened as he turned to face the other man. "But this is something that goes far deeper than that alone."

"What do you mean?" The officer was curious.

"What I mean is simple, Colonel Revil. There is something pertaining to a certain article that was written at the time of the signing of that Charter," Dr. Ming said as he zoomed in on it. "And that hidden truth is what needs to be exposed."

"Hidden truth," now Colonel Joseph Revil was befuddled, "but isn't that article being revealed now?"

"The real truth beneath it. There was a reason it was written," Dr. Ming clarified. "And that reason is simple: to try and expose the works of the shadows."

Now the young son of the famed One Year War general was stunned. "Shadows..." he muttered, "are you saying that there is more to Laplace's Box than just a guilty conscience on the part of Ricardo Marcenas?

"Yes. However, I can't exactly reveal what I mean. All I can say is that the shadows worked long and hard to deceive and trick everyone on Earth and in space," Dr. Ming clarified. "And Ricardo, from what I was able to gather, was intending to break that deception open to the public. But then history took its course... and you know what happened."

He turned to the colonel. "And that is why I had worked so hard on my.. secret project."

"That means... the UC Project..." Joseph was starting to piece it together.

He nodded. "Yes. It was," Dr. Ming admitted. "But things took a turn for the worse with the introduction of the technology. So now, I hope that the world will start to see the truth and dig deeper into the past to find the answers. Alas... I also fear that it may not be possible given the circumstances right now." He sighed as he turned the monitor around to show a pair of specific blueprints to the colonel.

"And that is why I have devised a backup plan centered around this new mobile suit, as well as its other sibling," he added.

Now Revil was intrigued. "More mobile suits? You mean... the Unicorn series."

"Yes." Dr. Ming nodded. "These two in particular will be of immense use to us. But primarily this one." He tapped the first set of blueprints. "And this machine will be the one to start the revelations. That is, if the shadows try to halt any and all efforts to reveal the truth."

"As for the second, well... it will be the key to unlock the truth here. The first machine will be the key to find the second of this pair," he explained.

"The truth..." the young Revil pondered, "and that is..."

"That the shadows have long since governed the world since the inception of the Universal Century," Dr. Ming stated. His finger tapped the second unit. "This one will hold the key to the truth. The first unit will lead the Princess to this unit. And thereafter it will fall to her to unlock the secrets behind the charter's alterations."

"I see..." the colonel muttered, "and here I was, thinking that unveiling Laplace's Box would be the end of the matter..."

"It's not as easy as you'd think," Dr. Ming stated somberly. "It's more complicated than that. People will start questioning WHY it was altered. And the truth behind that comes out."

The man then gestured to the two blueprints. "And that is why I came up with these two units. So this way, they can be used to uncover the truth. Because I fear - and rightly so - that there will not be much change as we draw close to the final years before the first century is completed."

The young officer and son of Revil felt the weight of the revelations on his shoulders. He had followed in his late father's footsteps as an EFSF officer to honor his legacy, and ensure that the Federation remained a force of good throughout the whole Earth Sphere. However, the unconquerable corruption of the Federation, and numerous wars that entire colonies and nations destitute with body counts in the millions, and now Laplace's Box, left him questioning everything he was taught and stood for. Doctor Ming was a friend and mentor, and seemed to be among the few who somehow kept a level head and wider perspective on the chaos.

"Then... where do I come in all of this?" Joseph looked back at Ming almost pleadingly. "There must have been a reason you took me in all those years ago, and are now telling me all this."

"The reason is simple, my friend. Those who know and love the truth, and the ordinary people who have suffered the ravages of both the Federation and Zeon, will be the ones to chart the course of a new era," Dr. Ming explained. He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I know it is hard to believe, but the truth needs to come out to the public to set us all free. I am asking you to help me by ensuring that the Unicorn, Princess, and the Lion uncover this truth. You will ensure that they are guided on the right path - by being there alongside them. This way, the future Ricardo and my own mentor and friend, Syam Vist, wished for, can come about," the engineer finished.

"A future... of possibilities guided by a recognition of our God-given rights and a return to the principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," Joseph realized, "the highest ideals of the Enlightenment Age in pursuit of virtue and truth."

"Yes," Dr. Ming stated. A fond smile crossed his face. "I chose to mentor you for a reason, and you have proven that reason to be true without a doubt. You are smart, and realize the things that need to be done. And I have faith that you can do it," he added. "I trust you with this task, and I have the utmost belief in your capabilities, Joseph. I know you will do me, and your father, proud."

"Yes, mentor..." Joseph acknowledged. Ming gave a smile, which lit up his old, wizened face. Being of Syam's generation, he himself did not have much time left in this world. With Syam Vist likely having passed on, Ming would now be the last of those who even remembered the old Anno Domini world. Being unable to have children, Joseph Revil as a surrogate son was the greatest gift that God had bestowed on him, allowing Ming to pass on the values and lessons of human history to be preserved from the BC and AD calendars. The old engineer finally turned to look out at the moon city where he based his own company, the Ming Research Institute. "I will do my best with what little time I have left to finish my part. Then it falls to you, Joseph, to finish my work. But for now... we must now discuss the psychoframe, which will no doubt become forbidden in the aftermath of this Incident."

"No kidding," Joseph said as he looked towards another monitor, showing the Unicorn and Banshee, with the former taking on a glowing crystal form unlike anything in modern human history. "It's beyond any projection by even the world's top Newtype experts. I'm not even sure if it's something that humanity can control, let alone should possess."

"Yes. But there is something you need to know." Dr. Ming slowly opened his desk drawer and pulled out a medium sized storage box. He set it down on the top of his desk and opened the box, pulling out a fragment of the very material in question.

"Actually, there are two types of psychoframe," the engineer explained. "The first, used by the Neo Zeong in the recent Laplace Conflict, is far more dangerous than the type used in the Unicorns. I have taken to labeling these two versions accordingly: the type that was used by Neo Zeong I have labeled Type O, or Type Oblivion. The type used in the Unicorns is known as Type Genesis, as it draws out the power of true Newtypes. But alas, if used in the wrong hands, then it could be considered just as dangerous as the Type Oblivion."

"Oblivion and Genesis?" This was the first time Revil had heard of this.

Dr. Ming nodded. "Yes. Type Oblivion is the type that was utilized by the Neo Zeong. The key difference between the two types is that the Oblivion type was manufactured incorrectly." He opened another drawer and pulled out a folder. He set it down beside the fragment of psychoframe and opened the folder to reveal papers scribbled with formulas and equations, along with a plan of the frame in question.

"Type Oblivion was never supposed to be machined the way it was. To properly create psychoframe, one must machine it within the very weightlessness of space itself. To even expose it to gravity during the machining process is only asking for danger to be within the hands of a pilot who uses it," he continued. "The Oblivion psychoframe was machined here on the moon and on Earth, so it was far more dangerous than the type Genesis, which I had manufactured in space itself."

"To clarify, the Genesis type is meant to bring out the power of Newtypes and to unite the human race through understanding. The Oblivion type is only a danger, as those who use it will acquire powers that no normal machine can stand up to. Only those with type Genesis will be able to counter it."

"Then that means..." Joseph's eyes lit up in shock. "The majority of the psychoframe machines were-"

"Yes." Dr. Ming was deadly serious as he said it. "They were. And only due to sheer luck did the pilots fighting against those machines overcome the odds. That, and the fact that none of the pilots of said machines realized the danger they were capable of unleashing."

"How?" Revil was befuddled, "how does gravity even begin to influence the behavior of a machine like that, let alone a metal?"

"It has to do with the way the molecules react," Dr. Ming explained. He tapped the closest diagram. "The gravity affects the way they resonate with the power of the human mind. Gravity in higher concentrations destabilizes the molecular structure of the psychoframe and make it unstable in its usage. While it does offer raw power, it means that it harnesses a greater amount of aggression in the human heart and manifests those negative emotions in more powerful physical constructs. It's most dangerous in the hands of those who are deep in despair and with a deep hatred towards life itself."

Here he tapped the psychoframe shard on his desk. "Zero gravity offers less chance of that happening. It means that the structure of the psychoframe is inherently more stable and therefore offers greater control. Furthermore, rather than deriving its full power from human anger and desire for war, it relies on those who understand agape love; selfless and altruistic, and even more so with a deep insight into the beauty and grace of God's grand design throughout the universe."

He turned back to the window. "However, there are those who seek to use this power for their own ends. Which is why it will no doubt be forbidden to even use it in combat. So that is why these two suits-" He gestured to the blueprints again. "-will have limiters installed to keep it from being activated unless specific conditions are met."

"A La+ program, so to speak," Joseph said. It was Dr. Ming who helped Cardeas and Syam Vist build the code that became the La+ program present in the Unicorn Gundam.

The engineer nodded. "Yes. But a newer version of it," he said as he brought up the code for the program in question. He sat back down in his chair as he continued. "I only hope that this backup plan of mine does not get derailed like this one will be."

"How so," Joseph asked.

"The shadows will try to conceal the light of truth," Dr. Ming clarified as he tented his fingers. "And that is something I feared would happen once this came out."

Both men turned their attention back to the screens, as Mineva wrapped up her speech imploring people to usher in the new era, and the Unicorn began to revert back to its regular form in supernatural fashion.

_**Prologue End** _


End file.
